SCHOOL  REPORTS  AS  A  MEANS  OF  SECURING  AD- 
DITIONAL SUPPORT  FOR  EDUCATION  IN 
AMERICAN  CITIES 


BY 

MERVIN  GORDON  NEALE,  Ph.  D. 

Professor   of   School   Administration, 
University  of  Missouri 


(Columbia,  iHuuuutri 

THE  MISSOURI  BOOK  COMPANY 

PUBLISHERS 

1921 


Copyright,  1921  by  Mervin  Gordon  Neale 
All  Rights  Reserved 


ACKNOWLEDGMENT 

The  writer  very  gratefully  acknowledges  his  indebtedness  to 
Professors  G.  D.  Strayer  and  N.  L.  Engelhardt  for  suggesting 
the  subject  of  this  investigation  and  for  giving  numerous  help- 
ful criticisms  during  its  prosecution.  He  wishes,  also,  to  ac- 
knowledge his  indebtedness  to  the  many  busy  city  school  superin- 
tendents who  took  the  time  to  furnish  information  relative  to  the 
means  used  to  give  publicity  to  school  facts  in  their  respective 
cities. 


448817 


in 


CONTENTS 

INTRODUCTION  Page 

CHAPTER  I. 

The  origin  and  Development  of  School  Reporting  in  the  United 

States    1 

CHAPTER  II. 

Types  and  Cost  of  School  Publications  in  American  Cities 27 

a.  Description  of  the  means  by  which  information  was 
secured  27 

b.  The  types  of  school  publications 1 54 

c.  Extent  of  circulation  of  each  type 54 

d.  The  "Audience"  for  which  each  type  is  intended 56 

e.  The  cost  of  school  publications 60 

f.  Additional  types  of  school  reports 62 

CHAPTER  III. 

Annual,  Biennial  and  Triennial  School  Reports 69 

a.  The    frequency    of   issue   in   different   sections   of   the 
United  States  70 

b.  The  aims  of  these  reports 74 

c.  Authorship    75 

d.  Analysis  of  content 76 

e.  Substitute  types  of  publications 88 

CHAPTER  IV. 

The  Principles  and  Practice  of  Utilizing  School  Reports  as  a 

Means  of  Securing  Support  for  Education , 92 

a.  Differentiation  of  reports  according  to  the  audience  to 

be  reached 92 

b.  The  principle  of  economy 97 

c.  Psychological  principles  which  apply  to  school  report- 
ing   _ 97 

d.  A  suggested  program  of  school  reporting 102 

APPENDIX  A. 

Extracts    from    State    Laws    Bearing   on    Written    or    Printed 

School   Reports   106 

APPENDIX  B. 

Description  of  Questionnaire  Used 114 

APPENDIX  C. 

List  of  Cities  Replying  to  Questionnaire,  Showing  after  the 
Name  of  each  City  the  Different  School  Publications  Utili- 
zed therein  117 

APPENDIX  D. 

A  List  of  the  Subjects  of  the  Charts  and  Graphs  in  103  Annual, 
Biennial  and  Triennial  School  Reports 127 

BIBLIOGRAPHY    132 

V 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

Page  1  of  the  First  Printed  Annual  Report  of  the  Board  of  Trustees 

and  Visitors  of  the  Common  Schools  of  Cincinnati 10 

The  First  Page  of  the  Oldest  available  Printed  Annual  School  Re- 
port in  the  United  States 16 

A  Page  from  an  Annual  Report  of  the  Visiting  School  Committee 

of  Concord,  New  Hampshire,  dated  March  19,  1827, 17 

A  Resolution  Ordering  the  Printing  of  a  168  Page  Report  on  the 
Quality  of  Instruction  in  the  Boston,  Massachusetts  Public 
Schools,  dated  September  11,  1845.  18 

A  Page  Illustrating  the  Character  of  the  Report  Referred  to  in  the 

Resolution    shown    on    Page    18 19 

An  Illustration  of  the  Types  of  School  Publications  Used  in  Canton, 

Illinois.     40 

Types  of  School  Reports  Used  in  Eugene,  Oregon. 41,     42 

Types  of  Administrative  Publications  Extensively  Used  in  Ameri- 
can City  School  Systems. 43 

Teachers'  Bulletins 44 

Monographs    45 

News  Bulletins,  the  "House  Organ"  Type  of  School  Publication  ___  46 

Campaign   Bulletins   47 

A  Means  for  Giving  Wide  Circulation  to  the  Superintendent's  An- 
nual Report  48 

A  Newspaper  Display  Advertisement 49 

Illustration  of  the  Use  of  a  High  School  Journalism  Class  and  a 
Daily  Metropolitan  Newspaper  in  Reporting  School  Facts  to 
the  Public 50,  51 

Posters  .  52 


VII 


LIST  OF  CHARTS 

1.  Percentage   of   Space   in  Ten   Annual   Reports   Issued  by  the 
Philadelphia  Board  of  Controllers  between  1819  and  1833  De- 
voted to  Each  of  Four  Subjects  20 

2.  Percentage  of   Space  in   Ten  Annual   Reports    Issued   by  the 
Board  of  Controllers   of   Philadelphia  between   1834  and   1843 
Devoted  to  Each  of  Nine  Subjects 22 

3.  Percentages  of  Space  in  Ten  Annual   Reports   Issued  by  the 
School  Committee  of  Brighton,  Massachusetts,  Devoted  to  Each 

of  Thirteen  Subjects. 24 

4.  Per  Cent  of  242  Cities  Using  Each  of  the  13  Most  Frequently 
Used  Types  of  School  Publications. 53 

5.  Median  Cost  of  Last  Issues  of  11  of  the  Most  Frequently  Used 
Types  of  School  Publications. 62 

6.  Relative  Rank  of  Different  Sections  of  the  United  States  in  the 
Percentage  of  Cities  Publishing  Annual  School  Reports 72 

7.  Authorship  of  Annual,  Biennial  and  Triennial  Reports 76 

8.  Per  Cent  of  Annual,  Biennial  and  Triennial  Reports  Containing 

Material  on  the  Twelve  Most  Frequently  Found  Subjects 80 

9.  Distribution  of  103  Annual,  Biennial  and  Triennial  School  Re- 
ports According  to  Length 81 

10.  The    Relative   Frequency   of  Use   of   the   Different    Kinds   of 
Charts  and   Graphs  Found  in  Annual,  Biennial  and  Triennial 
School  Reports. ' 82 

11.  The  Distribution  of  Intelligence  Among  Adults 96 


IX 


INTRODUCTION 

The  present  time  presents  peculiar  opportunities  for  the 
friends  of  education  to  make  enormous  gains  through  the  proper 
use  of  school  publicity.  Conditions  indicate  that  in  many  ways 
this  is  a  period  of  educational  revival  in  the  United  States 
equally  as  far  reaching  and  momentous  as  the  educational  revival 
which  brought  the  public  school  system  of  the  United  States 
into  existence.  The  present  time  is  opportune  for  presenting  the 
cause  of  education  to  the  public  for  these  reasons : 

1.  The  world  war  brought  home  to  the  American  people  in 
a  striking  way  the  fact  that  our  educational  system   failed  in 
many  of  the  ways  in  which  we  supposed  that  it  succeeded.    The 
millions  of  illiterates,  the  large  number  of  non-English  speaking 
citizens,  the  lack  of   trained  technical  workers,  the  lack  of   a 
proper  appreciation  of  American  citizenship  by  a  large  element 
of  the  population  are  among  the  weaknesses  disclosed.  , 

2.  The  world  war  was  influential  in  another  way  in  that  it 
caused,  through  the  propaganda  circulated  and  the  general  spirit 
created  by  the  union  of  the  allied  nations,  a  vigorous  appreciation 
of  the  opportunities  and  possibilities  of  democratic  government. 
In  line  with  this  development  of   the   democratic   spirit,   civic, 
commercial  and  social  leaders  have  very  plainly  seen  the  necessity 
of  making  a  larger  proportion  of  the  population  conscious  of  the 
advantages  and  opportunities  which  education  has  to  offer. 

3.  The  very  fact  of  the  world  war  makes  this  an  opportune 
time  for  stressing  the  cause  of  education.    This  is  because  of  the 
enormous  vivifying  fact  of  carrying  on  a  great  cooperative  enter- 
prise and  of  bringing  it  to  a  successful  conclusion. 

4.  Two  other  facts  combine  to  make  this  a  peculiarly  fitting 
time  for  securing  the  attention  of  the  public  to  school  facts.    The 
first  of  these  is  the  fact  that  school  buildings  programs  were 
held  up  during  the  war  and  that  the  year  1920-21  finds  the  cities 
of  the  United  States  in  need  of  some  two  or  three  billion  dollars 
in  order  to  supply  the  kipd  of  school  buildings  which  would  be 

XI 


XII  INTRODUCTION 

adequate  for  the  proper  accommodation  of  the  school  children 
of  this  country. 

The  second  is  the  fact  that  the  enormous  increase  in  the  cost 
of  living  and  the  opportunities  which  were  presented  to  teachers 
in  other  lines  of  work  have  brought  the  schools  face  to  face 
with  a  shortage  of  teachers  which  threatens  to  become  a  crisis 
unless  heroic  measures  are  taken.  These  are  real  issues.  They 
are  vital  to  the  interest  of  the  nation.  They  afford  subjects  for 
school  publicity  which  are,  potentially  at  least,  of  interest  to 
every  parent  in  the  United  States. 

Superintendents  of  schools  and  school  officials  generally  are 
keenly  interested  in  the  agencies  through  which  the  needs  of  the 
schools  and  the  importance  of  the  education  may  be  presented 
to  all  the  people.  It  is  the  object  of  this  study  to  show  how  the 
publication  of  school  reports  in  the  United  States  grew  out  of  the 
first  period  of  enthusiasm  for  public  free  education.  It  is  the 
further  purpose  of  the  study  to  show  the  actual  means  now  used 
by  school  officials  to  present  the  case  of  the  schools  to  the  people, 
to  estimate  the  relative  effectiveness  of  the  various  means  and  to 
suggest  a  program  of  school  reporting  which  will  assist  in  secur- 
ing for  public  education  in  the  United  States  the  increased 
support  which  the  needs  and  opportunities  of  the  present  seem 
to  demand. 


CHAPTER  I 

THE  ORIGIN  AND  DEVELOPMENT  OF  CITY  SCHOOL  REPORTING  IN 
THE  UNITED  STATES. 

It  is  the  purpose  of  this  chapter — 

1 — To  indicate  the  influences  back  of  the  publication  of 

school  reports  in  American  cities. 

2 — To  trace  briefly  the  development  of  the  custom  of  pub- 
lishing these  reports. 
3 — To  show  the  purposes  which  actuated  the  writers  of 

early  reports. 

A — To  analyze  the  contents  of  some  of  these  early  publi- 
cations in  order  to  show  the  manner  in  which  they  attempted  to 
accomplish  their  aims. 

The  custom  of  publishing  school  reports  in  American  cities 
may  be  looked  on  as  a  joint  product  of  the  conception  that  public 
officials  are  accountable  to  the  people  whom  they  serve  and  cer- 
tain community  practices  which  were  prevalent  when  the  public 
school  system  of  the  country  was  taking  form.  More  definitely, 
the  facts  which  influenced  the  origin  and  early  form  of  published 
school  reports  appear  to  be : . 

(1)  The   New   England  town  meeting. 

(2)  The  general  educational  revival  of  1820-50. 

(3)  The  propaganda  publications  of  early  educational  societies. 

(4)  The    publication    of    catalogs,    announcements,    and    reports    of 
private  'academies. 

(5)  The  encouragement  given  by  certain  state  boards  of  education 
as  in  Massachusetts,  Connecticut,  Maine,  and  Rhode  Island. 

The  origin  of  the  use  of  published  public  school  reports  as  a 
means  for  securing  increased  support  for  education  is  to  be 
found  mainly  in  the  New  England  States  of  Massachusetts, 
Connecticut,  Rhode  Island,  New  Hampshire,  and  Maine.  The 
published  annual  school  report  in  those  states  may  be  considered 
as  a  direct  descendent  of  the  New  England  town  meeting.  It 

(i) 


2  SCHOOL  REPORTS   IN  AMERICAN   CITIES 

was  from  the  earliest  colonial  days  in  this  section  of  America 
the  custom  to  consider  matters  of  public  concern  in  the  town 
meetings.  Among  these  matters  was  the  conduct  of  the  local 
schools.  At  the  annual  meeting,  when  the  policy  for  the  coming 
year  was  to  be  determined,  it  was  usual  to  have  the  selectmen 
or  school  committee  report  by  word  of  mouth  to  the  voters  as- 
sembled about  the  conduct  of  the  schools  for  the  past  year,  of 
the  existing  needs  and  the  appropriation  required  for  the  next 
year.  As  the  number  of  children  increased  and  schools  became 
more  numerous  and  the  conduct  of  school  affairs  more  expensive 
and  more  complex,  it  came  to  be  the  custom  of  school  commit- 
tees to  present  written  reports  to  be  read  at  the  town  meeting. 

In  1738,  for  instance,  a  visiting  committee  in  Boston,  Mas- 
sachusetts, made  a  written  report  to  the  town  meeting  which 
gave  the  number  of  children  in  each  of  the  schools  and  comment- 
ed on  the  quality  of  instruction  observed.  *  In  1784,  a  com- 
mittee in  Boston  reported  on  "The  Future  Arrangement  of  the 
Free  Schools."2 

In  December  1766,  the  Town  Meeting  of  Hartford,  Conn., 
voted  "that  Messrs.  Daniel  Sheldon,  Benjamin  Payne,  and 
Thomas  Seymour,  Jr.,  be  a  committee  to  join  with  the  present 
school  committee  and  devise  some  method  for  the  better  reg- 
ulating of  the  Grammar  School  and  lay  the  same  before  the 
next  meeting  of  the  town  in  order  for  their  approbation."3  This 
report  was  submitted  to  the  Town  Meeting  on  December  17th, 
1767,  and  must  have  been  a  written  report  since  a  copy  of  it 
appears  in  the  town  record. 

In  1792,  it  was  voted  by  the  Hartford  Town  Meeting  that  the 
committee  of  the  grammar  school  report  "to  the  town  meeting 
to  be  holden  December  next,  the  general  state  of  that  school, 
the  nature  of  the  grants  and  appropriations,  the  number  of 


The   Rise   of  Local   Supervision   in   Massachusetts,   p   95, 
based  on  Boston  Rep.  Rec.  Com.,  XIII,  p  153. 

2  Ibid.,  p  99,  based  on  Boston  Rep.  Rec.  Com.  XXXI,  p  16-18. 

3  The  old   Hartford    Grammar   School:     Republished    from    Barnard's 
American  Journal   of  Education  for  April,   1878. 


ORIGIN  AND  DEVELOPMENT  OF  CITY  SCHOOL  REPORTING    3 

scholars  in  it,  and  the  advantages  which  arise  therefrom  to 
individuals  and  the  public."1 

By  1838,  the  presentation  of  written  reports  had  become  so 
general  a  practice  in  the  State  of  Massachusetts  that  a  law  was 
passed  requiring  school  committees  to  present  a  written  report 
on  the  conduct  and  condition  of  the  schools  to  the  annual  town 
meetings.  This  law  provided  that  the  town  might  vote  to  have 
the  report  printed  if  it  so  desired."2 

In  1846,3  the  law  was  amended  so  as  to  make  the  printing  of 
the  annual  report  optional  with  the  school  committee  and  in 
1859,*  printing  was  made  compulsory.  The  law,  as  amended 
in  1859,  is  the  law  on  the  subject  in  Massachusetts  at  the  present 
time  and  reads  as  follows: — 

"Section  6:  The  school  committee  shall  annually  make  a  detailed 
report  of  the  condition  of  the  several  public  schools,  which  report  shall 
contain  such  statements  and  suggestions,  in  relation  to  the  schools 
as  the  committee  deem  necessary  or  proper  to  promote  the  interests 
thereof.  The  committee  shall  cause  said  report  to  be  printed  for  the 
use  of  the  inhabitants,  in  octavo,  pamphlet  form,  of  the  size  of  the 
annual  reports  of  the  Board  of  Education,  and  transmit  two  copies 
thereof  to  the  commissioner  of  education  on  or  before  the  last  day  of 
April,  and  shall  deposit  one  copy  in  the  office  of  the  city  or  town 
clerk." 

The  gradual  increase  in  the  number  of  printed  annual  school 
reports  in  the  State  of  Massachusetts  may  be  seen  from  figures 
given  by  Horace  Mann.5 

Number  of  cities 

Printing    annual 

Year  School  report 

1839     6  6 

1840    25 

1841 33 

1842    41 

!The  Old  Hartford  Grammar  School,  p.  193. 

2  Laws  of  1838.    Ch.  105,  Paragraph  I. 

3  Statutes  of  1846,  Ch.  223,  Sec.  4. 

4  Statutes  of  1859,  Ch.  57. 

5  Abstract  of  Mass.  School  Returns  for  1845-46,  p  4. 

0  Estimate.     Horace  Mann  states  that  "In  1839  not  more  than  half  a 
dozen  were  printed. 


4  SCHOOL  REPORTS  IN  AMERICAN   CITIES 

1843  43 

1844  44 

1845  51 

1846  71 

These  figures  are,  perhaps,  more  impressive  than  they  look. 
They  show  that  Massachusetts  towns,  before  the  middle  of  the 
nineteenth  century  were  much  more  faithful  in  printing  school 
reports  than  are  the  cities  in  most  states  at  the  present  time. 
If  the  Massachusetts  cities  printing  their  annual  school  reports 
for  the  year  1841-42  are  studied,  it  will  be  seen  that  the  39 
mentioned  *  as  submitting  printed  reports,  included  75  per  cent 
of  the  Massachusetts  towns  having  a  population  of  4,000  and 
over,  and  91  per  cent  of  the  towns  of  6,000  and  above.1  The 
reasons  which  school  comittees  had  in  mind  in  publishing  school 
reports  may  be  illustrated  by  quotations  on  the  subject  taken  from 
some  of  the  reports.  The  Groton,  Massachusetts,  school  com- 
mittee said  in  their  report  of  1841 -42j2 

"The  law  of  our  state  makes  it  the  duty  of  the  school  committee,  an- 
nually, to  submit  a  statement  of  the  conditions  of  our  district  schools, 
accompanied  with  such  remarks  and  suggestions  as  they  may  deem 
proper.  We  consider  this  a  wholesome  provision  and  fully  recognize 
the  wisdom  of  the  statute.  By  means  of  such  a  report  .  .  .  the 
inhabitants  of  the  town  are  informed  of  the  state  of  their  schools,  and 
their  attention  is  called  to  their  existing  defects  and  to  the  best  method 
for  their  improvement." 

In  the  same  year,  the  school  committee  of  Fall  River,  Mass, 
stated  in  their  annual  report : 3 

"The  statute  of  the  State  requires,  that  the  general  school  committee 
shall  make  a  detailed  report  to  the  town,  of  the  condition  of  all  the 
schools  under  their  general  supervision.  Those  who  are  taxed  to  sup- 
port Public  Schools,  have  a  right  to  know  how  their  money  is  ex- 
pended, and  what  is  the  character  of  the  schools  which  they  are  re- 
quired to  maintain.  The  committee  are  but  the  agents  employed  by 

1  Abstract  of  Mass.   School  Returns  for  1841-42,  pages   1-231.     Only 
39  out  of  the  41  cities  which  printed  reports  are  mentioned  by  name. 

2  Ibid,   p56:    See   abstract   of    Mass.    School    Returns    for    1843-44    for 
similar  statements. 

3  Ibid,  p!69. 


ORIGIN  AND  DEVELOPMENT  OF  CITY  SCHOOL  REPORTING    5 

the  town  to  take  the  agency  of  Common  School  Education,  and  the 
employer  ought  to  be  made  acquainted  with  all  that  appertains  to  his 
interests,  in  respect  to  this  agency.  What  the  committee  know  as  to 
the  schools,  the  town  ought  to  know." 

Horace  Mann  spoke  frequently  in  his  annual  report  about 
the  advantages  of  printing  the  annual  school  report.  In  1839,  for 
instance,  he  said  :1 

"It  is  a  matter  of  deep  regret,  that  more  of  the  towns  did  not  di- 
rect the  printing  and  distribution  among  their  citizens  of  the  re- 
ports. To  have  a  copy  of  them  in  every  family  is  the  only  efficient 
way  to  secure  such  attention  as  they  deserve,  to  the  important  sub- 
jects they  discuss." 

In  1841 :2 

"Though  the  reading  of  a  report  in  open  town  meeting  can  not  be 
otherwise  than  useful;  yet  the  advantages  of  distributing  to  every  fam- 
ily in  the  town,  an  able  and  well  written  tract  on  common  schools  must 
be  indefinitely  greater." 

In  1842 :3 

"Forty-one  of  the  reports  were  printed.  If  a  much  larger  number  of 
them  were  printed  it  would  far  more  effectually  subserve  the  object 
of  the  law  in  requiring  them  to  be  made.  The  views  and  suggestions 
which  they  contain  are  too  valuable  to  be  lost,  as  many  of  them  now 
are." 

In  1838,  school  visitors  in  the  state  of  Connecticut  were  re- 
quired by  law  to  prepare  a  written  report  on  the  condition  of 
the  schools,  together  with  plans  and  suggestions  for  their  im- 
provement.5 That  it  became  customary  to  print  these  reports 
in  some  Connecticut  cities  is  shown  by  a  statement  made  by  Henry 
Barnard  :5 

1  Abstract  of  Mass.  School  Returns  1838-39,  Page  9. 

2  Abstract  of  Mass.  School  Returns  1840-41,  p  6.    See  pp  4  &  5  for  a 
statement  of  the  contents  of  early  reports. 

3  Abstract  of  Mass.  School  Returns  1841-42,  p  5.    See  eighth  annual 
report  of  the  Secretary,  p  52-53,  and  1845,  p.  314. 

4  Fourth  Annual   Report  of  the   Bd.   of   Commissioners  of   Common 
Schools  in  Connecticut,  May  1842,  p  46. 

5  Ibid,  p  38. 


6  SCHOOL  REPORTS  IN  AMERICAN   CITIES 

"In  some  cases,  the  reports  have  been  read  in  a  public  meeting 
called  for  that  purpose;  in  others,  in 'the  several  districts;  and  in  a 
few  instances  they  have  been  printed  and  circulated  through  every 
family.  I  know  of  but  one  instance  where  such  a  report  was  prepared 
previous  to  1838." 

The  printing  of  the  annual  school  reports  was  never  made 
compulsory  in  Connecticut,  but  from  evidence  presented  in 
Chapter  II,  it  appears  that  Connecticut  towns  and  cities,  almost 
without  exception,  do  publish  such  reports  at  the  present  time. 

New  Hampshire  followed  practically  the  same  policy  as 
Connecticut.  One  of  the  earliest  available  printed  school  re- 
ports in  this  state  was  presented  to  the  town  meeting  of  Concord, 
N.  H.,  on  March  14th,  1827  1  and  was  ordered  by  the  town  "to 
be  printed  and  distributed  under  the  direction  of  the  visiting 
Committee."  On  March  12th,  1828,  the  town  meeting  of  Concord 
voted  that  "such  number  of  the  Report  of  the  Visiting  Com- 
mittee be  printed  as  will  be  sufficient  to  supply  each  family  in 
town  with  one  copy."2 

The  early  law  in  New  Hampshire  stated  that:3 

"The  Superintending  Committee  are  to  make  out  annually  a  report 
and  present  the  same  to  the  town  at  its  annual  meeting,  stating  the 
number  of  weeks  which  the  public  schools  have  been  kept  in  each 
district,  in  summer  and  in  winter,  and  what  portion  thereof  has  been 
kept  by  male  and  what  by  female  teachers;  the  whole  number  of 
scholars  that  have  attended  each  school;  the  progress  made  in  each 
school  in  the  various  branches  of  learning;  the  number  of  children  be- 
tween the  ages  of  four  and  fourteen  years  in  each  district  that  have 
not  attended  school  therein;  and  the  number  of  persons  in  each  dis- 
trict between  the  ages  of  fourteen  and  twenty-one  years  who  can  not 
read  and  write,  with  such  suggestions  as  may  be  useful  upon  the 
management  of  schools  and  the  subject  of  education." 

That  it  had  not  become  a  universal  custom  among  New  Hamp- 
shire towns  to  print  the  annual  school  reports  by  1854,  is  in- 

1  Report  of  the  Visiting  School  Committee  of  Concord,  N.  H.  March 
14th,  1827. 

2  Report  of  the  Visiting  School  Committee  of  Concord,  N.  H.  March 
12th,   1828. 

3  Report  of  the  Commissioner  of  Common  Schools  of  New  Hampshire 
1847. 


ORIGIN  AND  DEVELOPMENT  OF  CITY  SCHOOL  REPORTING    7 

dicated  by  a  statement  made  by  the  New  Hampshire  Commis- 
sioner of  Common  Schools  i1 

"The  cause  of  education  would  be  greatly  advanced,  if  the  several 
towns,  as  already  intimated,  would  publish  yearly  a  brief  and  interest- 
ing account  of  their  schools,  and  leave  a  copy  with  every  family.  This 
report  should  be  prepared  with  care  and  should  give  a  correct  view 
of  the  schools  and  of  the  best  means  to  be  used  in  improving  them." 

An  act  was  passed  in  Maine  in  1841  requiring  the  superintend- 
ing school  committees  to  return  the  school  statistics  to  the  select- 
men fourteen  days  before  the  annual  town  meeting.2  The  law 
stated  that  it  was  the  duty  of  the  superintending  school  com- 
mittee 

"to  make  a  written  report  at  the  annual  meeting  next  after  their  ap- 
oointment  of  the  standing  of,  and  progress  made  in,  the  several  schools 
in  the  various  branches  of  learning  therein  taught,  and  the  success 
which  may  have  attended  the  mode  of  instruction  and  government  of 
their  respective  teachers."3 

In  1855,  twenty-two  Maine  towns  submitted  printed  annual 
reports  to  the  state  superintendent  of  common  schools  who 
states  that : 

"The  number  of  towns  which  print  their  report  of  their  school  com- 
mittee in  our  state,  do  not,  probably,  exceed  forty.  Two  hundred 
and  twent}r  towns  receive  over  one  hundred  dollars  each  from  the 
State  School  Fund,  and  it  is  suggested  whether  they  should  not  be 
required  to  furnish  to  every  family  in  town  a  printed  copy  of  the 
School  Committee's  report,  as  a  condition  of  receiving  their  proportion 
of  this  money."4 

The  case  for  printing  the  annual  school  report  in  Maine  was 
presented  by  the  Commissioner  of  Common  Schools  in  his  1855 
Annual  Report  as  follows : 

"When  the  committee  have  submitted  their  report  to  the  inhabi- 
tants of  the  town,  it  should  be  printed  and  a  copy  sent  to  every  fam- 
ily, to  be  read  by  parents,  teachers  and  scholars.  Unless  printed,  how- 

1  Report  of  the  Commissioner  of  Common  Schools  of  New  Hampshire, 
1854,   p  46-47. 

2  Maine  School  Report  for  1852,  p  32. 

3  Maine  School  Report  1855,  p  141,  and  Maine  School  Report  1856,  p 
141. 

4  Maine  School  Report,  1855,  p  36. 


8  SCHOOL   REPORTS  IN  AMERICAN   CITIES 

ever  faithfully  this  document  may  have  been  prepared,  and  however 
valuable  in  statistics  or  suggestions,  it  will  fail  to  produce  much  pos- 
itive good;  for  it  is  usually  read  near  the  close  of  the  town  meeting, 
when  most  of  the  voters  have  gone  to  their  homes,  or  their  minds 
are  occupied  with  some  matter  of  business  .  .  .  Many  arguments 
could  be  adduced  in  favor  of  printing  these  reports  and  their  distribu- 
tion. The  committees  would  be  encouraged  in  their  responsible  and 
arduous  labors;  and  would  seek  a  greater  acquaintance  with  the  gen- 
eral duties  of  their  office.  Teachers  would  seek  to  deserve  the  appro- 
bation of  the  Committee  and  the  community,  were  their  character  as 
teachers  to  be  set  forth  on  the  printed  page,  and  read  by  every  family 
in  town.  It  would  encourage  good  teachers  and  drive  poor  ones  from 
the  field.  It  would  tend  to  create  a  healthy  emulation  among  the 
parents  and  scholars  of  the  different  districts,  as  well  as  increase  the 
amount  of  reading  matter  on  the  subject  of  schools  .  .  .  Commit- 
tees are  recommended  to  bring  this  subject  to  the  consideration  of 
their  respective  towns  in  their  next  annual  report."1 

In  1828,  a  sub-committee  in  Providence,  Rhode  Island,  in- 
vestigated the  matter*  of  reorganizing  the  school  system  of  the 
town  and  prepared  a  six-page  report  which  was  printed  and 
circulated  "throughout  the  town."  2  Before  1845,  Rhode  Island 
had  the  following  law  which  made  either  the  reading  or  the 
publication  of  the  school  committee's  annual  report  compulsory: 

"Powers  and  duties  of  towns.  To  prepare  and  submit  annually 
first  to  the  commissioner  of  public  schools,  on  or  before  the  first  of 
July,  in  matter  and  form  as  shall  be  prescribed  by  him;  and  second 
a  written  or  printed  report  to  the  town,  at  the  annual  town  meeting 
when  the  school  committee  is  chosen,  setting  forth  the  doings  of  the 
committee,  and  the  condition  and  plans  for  the  improvement  of  the 
public  schools  of  their  respective  towns;  which  report,  unless  printed, 
shall  be  read  in  open  town  meeting."3 

The  by-laws  of  the  school  committee  of  Providence  adopted 
June  10th,  1844,  contain  a  definite  provision  for  carrying  out 
the  purpose  of  the  foregoing  law. 

"Art.  II.  Quarterly  and  Annual  reports.  The  superintendent  shall 
keep  a  record  of  his  proceedings,  always  open  to  the  members  of  the 

1  Maine  School  Report,  1855,  p35. 

2  Report  of  Sub-committee  of  Providence,  Rhode  Island  School  Com- 
mittee. 

3  Rhode  Island  School  Report  1845,  p!41. 


ORIGIN  AND  DEVELOPMENT  OF  CITY  SCHOOL  REPORTING    9 

committee;  and  at  every  quarterly  meeting  shall  make  report  in  writ- 
ing of  the  number  of  pupils  attending  the  several  schools  during  the 
quarter,  of  the  number  engaged  in  the  different  branches  of  study 
in  the  same  and  containing  such  information  relative  to  the  conditions 
and  plans  for  improving  of  the  schools  as  he  may  have  to  communicate. 
A  general  report  shall  also  be  prepared  by  him,  at  the  close  of  the 
school  year  for  publication."1 

Article  XII  of  the  same  by-laws  also  directed  the  superin- 
tendent of  schools  after  each  quarterly  meeting  to  "cause  to  be 
published  in  the  newspapers  a  statement  of  the  number  of 
scholars  of  each  sex  in  all  the  schools  during  the  preceding 
quarter."1 

The  political  and  social  ideas  and  habits  which  led  to  the 
development  of  the  custom  rendering  first  oral,  then  written  and 
later  printed  school  reports  in  New  England,  went  with  those 
who  emigrated  from  this  section  to  other  states.  The  Trustees 
and  Visitors  of  Cincinnati  published  a  report  in  1833  and  an- 
nually thereafter.  This  was  the  third  report  to  the  community 
by  the  board,  but  the  first  two  were  not  published  and  so  were 
lost.  2  The  first  annual  report  of  the  Board  of  Managers  of  the 
Common  Schools  of  Cleveland  was  for  the  year  1837-38.3 

The  magnitude  of  New  England  influence  may  be  judged 
from  the  extent  of  the  migration  from  that  section.  Pro- 
fessor Cubberly  states4  that  by  1810  more  than  half  of  New 
York,  one-fourth  of  Pennsylvania,  parts  of  New  Jersey 
and  the  Western  Reserve  in  Ohio  had  been  settled  by  New 
Englanders.  By  1850,  according  to  the  same  authority,  one-half 
of  the  settled  portion  of  the  old  North-West  Territory  had  been 
populated  by  New  England  stock  and  many  New  Englanders 
had  pushed  beyond  the  Mississippi  River. 

There  were,  however,  influences  other  than  those  which  grew 
out  of  the  New  England  town  meeting  and  the  New  England 

1  By  laws  Providence,  Sch.   Com.   1844. 

2  A  History  of  the  Schools  of  Cincinnati — John  B.  Shotwell,  Cincin- 
nati, The  School  Life  Co.  1902. 

3  Quoted  in  full  in  Early  History  of  the  Cleveland  Public  Schools  by 
Andrew  Freese,  Cleveland   1876. 

4  Public  Education  in  the  United  States,  p.  72. 


10  SCHOOL  REPORTS  IN  AMERICAN   CITIES 


SCHOOL  BEPOBT, 


City  GntneS 

7I»  of  Trustees  and  V»  itors  of  the  Common 

within  the  City  of  Cincinnati  in  gubmittini:  to  the  CttyCotm- 
ci  tfenr  Aii&uui  Report  of  the  state  and  prospects  of  the  last** 
«&tFu*led  to  their  s«|»rf»K*a,  deem  it  proper  to  aid- 
ve  it  to  the  -dtfi  J  h  e  KtuolpcritH  . 

sttitffeetofy  account  «ii-  Iowa,  or  of  the  pro- 

ceeding* a*.  -:>f  stair  predrcessors.    Uatler  the  e- 

L'cv,-    u  -:.-.-:.ip  j*<-a*  if  *?•<•  -;v;-  jr>  f-^Ta.   ..  "-  -:  •  •  :  -rirraiiv  rmtiei 
upon  t  ..,ke  up  the  annual  repost  for 

anolber  net,  who,  after  -  -hoots 

;-t  the  first  tfer  >f  the  §iv"::  rf  and 

tli0  renvahiNder,  *ire  allowed  to  ificooutsh  their  trust  (whkJi^ 

frcmt  its  aniu^  uatara,  b  hat  too  cheeiioily  resjgned)  without 

leaving,  IB  line  nhape  of  a  farewell  Report,  «njr  specie 

^l3t€t-  •*•'   ''^I'r       •     ;.-•    •;:     ;;   ';''     '''':>     ~  '     (>•*'.. 

•;-•;,.. 

At  HKM  bu*y  perkni  of  the  iciK>ul  y  ->  make  ap  fit 

-- 


a  y.-<tory  o  iw  \voe  p  z;  Jree. 

Dur-  over, 

.>ystaiaedt  in  eonse- 
otiier  causes.) 

eniftber  of  the  TlrKf&Tf  and  Ej&mburt  —  but  a  single  in-- 
r>f  thekttcr  B*  -.'ith  a 

fcsire  majori!  y  of  the  former  ia  visiting  tlie  etghte^ii  puHks 
examinations.  W>  .*d  b    kw  im- 


The   first   page   of   the   first   printed   Annual   School   Report   of   Cincinnati,    Ohio,    for   the 

year   1832-33. 

This  report  was  a  13-page  pamphlet  and  contained  an  account  of  receipts  and 
expenditures,  discussions  of  changes  in  the  teaching  staff  and  textbooks,  a  list  of  the 
textbooks  in  use,  recommendations  relative  to  a  reform  in  the  manner  of  choosing  the 
Board  of  Visitors  and  the  immediate  construction  of  a  new  school  building,  comment 
on  the  good  results  to  be  expected  from  meetings  of  the  College  of  "Professional 
Teachers"  in  Cincinnati  and  a  hopeful  statement  about  the  future  of  the  Cincinnati 
public  schools. 


ORIGIN  AND  DEVELOPMENT  OF  CITY  SCHOOL  REPORTING  11 

attitude  toward  education  which  influenced  the  early  publication 
of  school  reports.  Between  1820  and  1850,  there  were  many 
conditions  in  all  sections  of  the  United  States  which  tended  to 
give  powerful  emphasis  to  the  cause  of  education.  This  was 
the  period  of  the  great  development  of  democratic  ideas.  It  was 
the  period  of  the  growth  of  a  new  interest  in  the  welfare  of  the 
masses,  both  on  the  part  of  political  and  social  leaders  and  on  the 
part  of  the  masses  themselves.  It  was  a  time  when  philanthropic 
societies  became  alertly  and  vigorously  interested  in  improving 
the  lot  of  the  common  man.  One  result  of  this  great  demo- 
cratic movement  was  the  employment  of  all  available  means  of 
publicity  for  putting  the  case  of  public  education  before  the 
people.  The  various  public  school  societies  memorialized  the 
legislatures,  issued  addresses  to  the  public,  furnished  public 
speakers,  published  tracts  x  in  order  to  explain  the  nature  of 
their  work  and,  in  may  cases,  issued  formal  printed  reports. 
The  Male  Free  Society  of  Baltimore  which  was  organized  about 
the  beginning  of  the  nineteeth  century  issued  a  report  as  early 
as  1822.2  In  Philadelphia,  the  annual  school  reports  of  the 
Board  of  Controllers  may  be  looked  on  as  in  large  measure  a 
continuation  of  the  propaganda  and  reports  of  the  Philadelphia 
Society  for  the  Establishment  and  Support  of  Charity  Schools 
founded  about  1800,  and  the  Society  for  the  Promotion  of  a 
Rational  System  of  Education  established  some  fourteen  years 
later.3 

The  Public  School  Society  of  New  York,  soon-  after  its  organi- 
zation in  1805,  published  in  the  papers  of  the  city  an  address  to 
the  public  which  was  a  statement  of  what  the  Society  intended 
to  do,  and  an  appeal  for  financial  support.4  From  1805  to  1841, 
appeals  to  the  public  and  memorials  to  the  State  Legislature  were 

1  From  1830  to  1850  tracts  dealing  with  such  subjects  as  the  need  of 
common  schools,  preparation  of  teachers,  and  the  value  of  subjects 
other  than  the  three  R's  were  .widely  distributed  in   Massachusetts, 
Connecticut,  Rhode  Island,  New  York,  Pennsylvania  and  Ohio.    See 
Monroe — Cyclopedia  of   Education,   Vol.   V,  p619. 

2  Cubberley — Public  Education  in  the  United  States,  p88. 

3  Cubberley — Public  Education  in  the  United  States,  p89. 

4  History  of  the  Public  School  Society  of  the  City  of  New  York. 
W.  O.  Bourne,  N.  Y.  1870. 


12  SCHOOL  REPORTS  IN  AMERICAN   CITIES 

frequent  and  urgent  because  the  rapid  growth  of  the  Society's 
work  made  financial  support  an  increasingly  difficult  problem. 
As  the  schools  in  charge  of  the  Society  increased  in  number, 
committees'  reports  came  to  be  published1  and  annual  reports 
were  printed2  so  that  when  the  public  school  system  of  New  York 
City  was  established,,  there  was  very  definite  precedent  for  the 
publication  of  annual  school  reports.  The  New  York  City  school 
board  publications  may  be  looked  on  as,  in  large  measure,  a  con- , 
tinuation  of  those  which  had  been  utilized  for  many  years  by  the 
Public  School  Society. 

The  influence  of  the  catalogs,  pamphlets  and  reports  of  pri- 
vate and  semi-public  academies  may  be  seen  in  the  contents  of 
many  early  school  reports.  The  lists  of  pupils  with  the  names  and 
addresses  of  their  parents,  graduation  programs  and  speeches, 
lists  of  alumni,  the  names  of  high  school  graduates  attending 
various  colleges,  represent  the  kind  of  publicity  with  which  the 
academy  catalogs  had  made  school  officials  familiar. 

The  custom  of  publishing  annual  school  reports  which  became 
general  in  New  England  and  extensive  in  other  sections  of  the 
United  States  before  1860  is  not,  as  will  be  shown  in  Chapters 
II  and  III,  universal  even  at  the  present  time.  It  will  be  shown 
in  Chapter  II  that  of  242  cities  of  8,000  population  and  over,  only 
66  per  cent  have  published  annual  reports  within  the  past  five 
years  and  that  only  52  per  cent  have  issued  printed  annual  re- 
ports during  the  calendar  year  of  1919  and  the  first  four  months 
of  1920.  New  England  is  the  only  section  of  the  United  States 
where  practically  all  the  cities  publish  annual  school  reports.3 

Table  I  shows  that  twenty-three  states  have  laws  of  some 
sort  relative  to  the  rendering  or  publication  of  reports.  Of 
these  twenty-three  states,  seven  require  the  printing  of  an  annual 
report  in  pamphlet  form  and  of  these  seven,  the  states  of  Dela- 
ware and  Alabama  have  passed  the  necessary  legislation  during 
the  year  1919.  Annual  reports  issued  under  the  laws  in  these 

•IHistory  of  the  Public  School  Society  of  the  City  of  New  York,  pp 
85-86. 

2  Ibid,  p734. 

3  See  Chart  6,  page  72  for  the  rank  of  sections  of  the  United  States 
according  to  the  per  cent,  of  cities  in  which  annual  school  reports' 
are  published. 


ORIGIN  AND  DEVELOPMENT  OF  CITY  SCHOOL  REPORTING  13 

two  states  will  be  issued  for  the  first  time  for  the  school  year 
1920-21.  With  one  exception,  the  laws  in  these  seven  states 
direct  that  the  reports  shall  deal  with  general  educational  con- 
ditions and  needs,  as  well  as  with  matters  of  finance. 

In  one  state,  namely,  Maine,  the  statute  requires  that  a  written 
annual  report  be  submitted  at  the  town  meeting.  In  Colorado, 
the  law  directs  that  in  first-class  cities,  a  semi-annual  financial 
report  be  published  in  a  newspaper  and  that  in  cities  other  than 
first-class,  such  reports  be  published  annually. 

The  table  shows  also  that  four  states  require  the  publication 
of  annual  financial  reports  in  the  newspapers,  that  six  require 
the  publication  of  an  annual  report,  either  in  pamphlet  form  or 
in  a  newspaper,  two  states  require  the  publication  of  proceed- 
ings of  the  school  board,  and  three  the  publication  of  budget 
estimates. 

The  state  of  Connecticut  requires  the  superintendent  of  schools 
to  make  a  written  report  to  the  school  committee.  The  state  of 
Delaware  requires  the  publication  of  the  course  of  study  in 
addition  to  the  publication  of  an  annual  report  in  pamphlet 
form,  and  in  the  state  of  Rhode  Island,  it  is  required  that  the 
annual  report  be  either  printed  in  pamphlet  form  or  read  in 
open  town  meeting. 


14 


SCHOOL  REPORTS  IN  AMERICAN   CITIES 


TABLE    I. 
PROVISIONS  IN  STATE  LAWS  RELATIVE   TO   SCHOOL  REPORTS. 

FOR    EXTRACTS    FROM    STATE    LAWS    ON    WHICH    THIS    TABLE    IS     BASED, 

SEE  APPENDIX  I. 


Annual  printed  report  in  pamphlet 
form  required  by  law 

Written  annual  report  to  town 
meeting  required. 

Semi-annual  financial  report  to 
be  published  in  newspapers 

Annual  financial  report  to  be 
published  in  newspapers. 

Annual  report  to  Le  printed  either 
in  pamphlet  or  in  newspaper 

Propeedings  of  Board  to 
be  published 

Budget  estimate  to  be 
published  in  newspaper 

Written  report  to  Board  or 
school  committee  required. 

Printed  course  of  study  to  be  supplied 
to  teachers  and  interested  citizens 

73 

a 

I| 
t-i  ^ 
II 

'£  a 

a! 

3  a 

0> 

p 

—  "3 

o3  « 

2  £ 

Is 

(X) 

X-l 

(X) 

(X) 

(X) 

Idaho 

X-2 

Illinois 

X-3 

X-4 

(X) 

(X)-5 

Maine 

(X) 

(X") 

Michigan 

X-6           X 

i.nneso  a 

x 

x 

(X) 

(X)        .... 

Ohio 

(X) 

(  X) 

(X)-7 

x 

(X) 

x 

(X) 

Utah 

x 

Wisconsin 

X-8 

1 — Annually  for  other  than  first  class  cities. 

2 — In  independent  districts. 

3—  For  cities  having  a  population  of  over  100,000. 

4 — Must   include  .statement    of   receipts   and   expenditures. 

5 — "Shall  publish     annually" — "publish"   is  not  defined. 

6 — "Shall  cause  to  be  published." 


No  provision  relative  to 
printed  or  written  school 
reports  designed  for  the 
local  public  was  found  in 
the  statutes  of  other 
states. 


8 — Either  to  be  published  in  newspaper  or   posted  in  5  prominent  places. 
7 — In   cities  of   the   first   class.      Content  not  defined. 

The    "X's"    are  enclosed   in  parenthesis  where   the  reporting   of   general   educational 
conditions  and  needs  is  required. 


Tables  II,  III  and  IV,  Charts  I,  II  and  III  and  the  illustra- 
tions on  Pages  10,  16,  17,  18  and  19  indicate  the  general  nature 
of  the  content  of  the  earliest  school  reports.  In  some  cases, 


ORIGIN  AND  DEVELOPMENT  OF  CITY  SCHOOL  REPORTING  15 

they  were  little  more  than  financial  reports  or  bare  narrative 
accounts  of  the  school  events  of  the  past  year.  Taking  them 
as  a  whole,  however,  they  contained  the  sort  of  material  which 
school  boards  and  committees  believed  would  cause  the  public 
to  become  more  interested  in  and  therefore  to  give  better  sup- 
port to  public  schools. 

The  following  statement  taken  from  the  abstract  of  the  Mass- 
achusetts school  returns  for  1840-41  is  Horace  Mann's  summary 
of  the  content  of  the  annual  reports  of  Massachusetts  town  and 
cities  for  that  school  year: 

"The  topics  occupying  most  space  relate  to  the  condition  of  school- 
houses,  as  it  regards  their  construction,  location  and  appurtenances; 
the  diversity  of  class-books;  the  lamentable  contrast  between  the  real 
value  of  the  schools  and  their  value  as  indicated  by  the  indifference  of 
parents  and  guardians  toward  them;  irregularity  and  tardiness  in  the 
attendance  of  the  scholars;  and  the  favorable  opinions  of  the  com- 
mittees in  regard  to  the  measures  now  in  operation  to  give  expansion 
and  energy  to  our  Common  School  system.  .  .  .  On  another  class 
of  subjects, — such  as  the  benefits  to  be  derived  from  a  more  liberal 
appropriation  of  money  by  the  towns, — the  last  hundred  dollars  gen- 
erally doing  as  much  good  as  the  first  two  or  three  hundred;  the  ad- 
vantages which  might  be  realized  from  a  judicious  classification  of  the 
scholars,  and,  for  this  purpose,  the  establishment  of  Union  Schools, 
and  the  separation  of  the  larger  from  the  smaller  scholars,  in  all  cases 
where  practicable;  the  paralyzing  effect  of  the  Private  School  system 
upon  the  paramount  interest  of  the  Public  Schools;  the  advantages 
of  apparatus  and  school  libraries;  the  superiority  of  female  teaching, 
for  young  children,  over  that  of  males;  the  value  of  thorough  instruc- 
tion as  contrasted  with  the  worthlessness  and  banefulness  of  that  which 
is  superficial;  the  introduction  of  new  modes  and  processes  of  exciting 
the  interest  of  children  and  for  communicating  knowledge  to  them;  and 
above  all,  the  power  of  a  body  of  well  qualified,  well  trained  teachers, 
forthwith  to  lift  the  entire  mass  of  the  rising  generation  to  a  point 
of  intelligence,  in  manners,  in  morals,  immeasurably  higher  than  that 
which  they  now  occupy;  on  this  class  of  subjects,  the  reports  contain 
admirable  materials  for  more  than  double  the  amount  of  selections  here 
made."1 

1  Abstract  of  the  Massachusetts  School  Returns,  1840-41,  pp4-5. 


16  SCHOOL  REPORTS  IN  AMERICAN   CITIES 


FIRST 

ANNUAL  REPORT 


CONTROLLERS  OF  THE  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS 


SCHOOL  nitrmicT  w  THE  STAT* 


Sflttfs  tfteir  accotmty, 


of  Ilii-icli  6Hif  ISIJ* 
ami  4  last  offlif  C%ontr«Hers  «nl 
umler  the  Act,  &C*  %c. 


PHJLADELPHiAi 

'Ell  BY  OMIICR  OF  THE  BOAW  Or 

1819. 


The  fir.st  page  of  the  oldest  available  printed  annual  school  report  in  the  United  States. 
This  report  contained  discussions  of  previous  educational  efforts  in  Philadelphia, 
the  difficulties  confronting  the  board,  the  cost  of  education  under  previous  acts  of  the 
assembly,  the  expenses  of  the  current  year,  the  .subjects  taught,  enrollment  of  boys 
and  girls  by  schools  and  an  abstract  of  the  Education  Law,  together  with  the  auditors' 
report  and  a  directory  of  the  Board  of  Control  and  School  Directors. 


ORIGIN  AND  DEVELOPMENT  OF  CITY  SCHOOL  REPORTING  17 


REPORT. 


THE  subject  of  carl/  Education  is  confessedly  connected 

with  tite  highest  advantages,  ar»d  tfee  dearest  rights  of  ma* 

kimL     it  engage*  the  attention  of  all  who  are  wise  and 

good*    The  best  means  for  tt«  promotion  are  sought,  and 

b  liberal!/  coiurtbated,    to  widen  atid  deepen  its 

i.   • 

t:sp  n%*cc!  with  these  facts,  and  the  duty  which  tliey 
€*«•€  to  thtir  co&ftttuents,  die  Committee,  appointed  id  ki* 
Si-hoobof  this  town,  have  carefully  considered 
e  they  f.o«?k!  adopt,  arid  what  measures  the/  cmiid 
ci,  for  their  further  improvement.  The  result  of 
fl^  dHtfceratipcis  has  led  to  the  ronvsction,  that  the  §/§» 
tern,  which  tbclr  predecessors  had  adopted,  may  be  further 
Improved,  by  a  greater  particularity  in  the  annual 
iiont  3fid  re  porM  of  the  Schoob.  Actiog  a}X>ii  ibis 
they  have  carefully  noted  the  recitations  of  ever/  dais? 
a»*J  delivered,  at  the  clo^t  of  etch  ematnlnatioi*,  an  ^» 
i!res«,  exhiLitmg  their  opinion  of  the  improvement  ami 
Character  of  the  School,  aeeornpirtied  with  such  adfice  at 
they  thought  necessary.  The  mollit  the/  beHeret  have 
already  been-  bene  ici»l.  The  Committee,  also  befiev!ngf 
that  n  particular  report  of  each  School  would  produce  very 
useful  effects,  have  adopted  a  course,  which,  thoogk  it 
appear  to  tome  too  minute  and  prolix,  they  arc  confident 
peedt  only  to  he  adopted  for  two  or  three  years,  to  ensure 
the  approbaiton  of  the  community, 

Only  adding,  that  while  they  describe  the  state  of  each 
School,  it  is  not  their  intention  to  mar  the  feelings  of  an/f 
whether  parent*,  teachert,  or  scholars,  but  to  fnducf  such 
measures  and  cicitc  such  amUiton  as  shall  promote  the  in- 
ferf\*ts  of  lcar;iH»?j  thry  woulil  fetpeetfatt/  submit  the  fol« 
towing  Report, 


The  first  page  of  a  report  of  the  Visiting  School  Committee  of,  Concord,  New 
Hampshire.  Read  in  Town  Meeting  and  ordered  printed  March  19,  1827.  This  page 
indicates  the  purpose  of  the  report,  which  was  a  survey  of  conditions  by  schools 
covering  enrollment,  attendance,  order  and  the  progress  of  the  pupils  in  reading,  spell- 
inc.  grammar,  geography,  writing,  arithmetic  and  morality.  It  recommends  larger 
school  buildings;  better  heating  facilities;  the  certification  of  masters  by  the  town 
examining  committee;  uniformity  of  textbooks  (a  list  is  submitted);  the  publication  of 
a  ".small  Book"  to  contain  an  abstract  of  the  state  laws  on  schools  and  school  masters, 
the  necessary  "resolves  of  the  town,"  a  list  of  textbooks,  the  subjects  to  be  studied, 
a  uniform  method  of  examining  schools  and  a  stringent  rule  concerning  insubordination 
of  pupils. 


18  SCHOOL  REPORTS  IN  AMERICAN   CITIES 


CITY    OF    B  O  S  T  <  >  N  • 


In  S 


,  That  leu  thousan 
Annual  Examining-  Committe 
the  citizen*. 

t  Thai  in  or 
Writing  Bchoolt  t«;? 
life-  not  to  'be  mnU-f>ir»od  «n 


AtJtl  thittbti  resoluttou  bi^  printi  <!  with  the  R< 
A  tree  copy.  ' 

Attest,  i,  P.  McCLKARY 


The  school  report  to  which  this  resolution  refers  was  a  168-page  survey  of  the 
achievements  of  pupils  in  the  various  school  subjects.  The  fact  that  the  results  of  the 
examination  were  written  with  exceeding  frankness  probably  caused  the  cautious 
language  of  the  resolution. 

A  sample  page  from  this  report  shown  on  Page  19  gives  some  idea  of  the  nature 
of   its   content. 


ORIGIN  AND  DE:VE:LOPMKNT  OF  CITY  SCHOOL  REPORTING  19 


v.  But  we  repeat  the  asaerliou,  that,  to  the  be*t  of  our  knowl- 
edge mid  Mwf,  the  *tatt*tir*i  rtttirtis  which  w*  submit  unit 
present  the  fullest  and  ih«s  fairer  mean*  iY«r  j  •!"  the 

real  merits  and  demerits  of  otir  School*,  and  of  their  COBH 
tive  rank,  wh*eh  have  ever  been  Sf&ho&ed  so:«8  to  be  withia 
the  reach  of  any  but  actual  exatnm«iv  of  the  Schools.     We 
way  say  this  sale! y,  b«c*as«?  n  is  periapt  the  only  statists 
csl.  in  formal  ion  which  has  ever  tweu  so  embodied* 
.  We. may  remark  here,  that  there  wens,  wi  SMU»  of  our  lists 
of  printed  4)ttestimi&,  typog raphwst!  errors  <»f  apelltiif, 
atron  aad  grammar,  which  were  dt^c-ovcwni  icy*  kite  lot 
feet  ion :  and  thai  HI  many  ^himls  the  scholars  wept 
to  ccvrrcMBt  such  errors,  m  A  jnurt  of  tf MNNT  eiercise. 
•  We  now  proci^d  to  c*>osid€:r  tli-f4  §tii|}^tic:ai  feturtwi. 
The  fim  filling  m«€ii«M>»ed  by  loclipf  «>ver  these  rettirna, 
4$  th&t  of  eiittre  iBcr*iduiH y.  It  is  very  dt&eutt  to  M^im  thai. 
in  the  Boston  Schools,  there  stionld  be  so  many  dtildftHi  in  th* 
•  fct  claasm,  uuabie  to  answer  such  qtiestiofti^  *re  sho^^.  • 

INI  to  many  who  try  to  answer,  an*:  impejlVxtlf :  that 

there  should  be  so  many  absurd  answers  ;  >o  mt?iy  ^rwt  in 
spelling,  in  grammar,  ami  IK  puneiuat ><»$}.  It  by  any  aeetdeitt 
these  docunrtents  ^liatild  be  dk«i roved,  we  emtld  hatdly  bop« 
that  your  faith  in  wir  accuracy  w.uild  .imiuee  you  to  b^* 
iksr^  the  truth  if  w«  tokJ  it.  liit  tlni  ^jiers  ««  all  Wor« 
ITCMB,  «^ch  signed  by  the  f^holiw  wlw»  wroit*  it. 

.  The   whole  nncnber  of  |>ti|»l$   imvaeat.  »••  VionU  <«ft 

thd  days  when  we  examined,  waa  T5*4o  ;  th€  whol«  ntu^btf 
oSered  foe  examination, —-a  urailM^  comprising  tiui  ioirw  of 
trie  Boitmi  Put"  -is, — was  £3th  ihtrt •  vftn^i  aft  it 

,f«it  to'Uiem 
In  Geograiihy,—- ^i  - 


Gnuntiiar,  -                                              14 

Histo.v.      -  30 

Naliirul   Ph..  • 

AMronomy,  -                        -                        11 


.•Making  a  total  of  154  rj«est«^». 

To  theise  ihi-re  shouid  have   bee?'  *  tiieirrni,  a 

scholar  had  been  abk  to  answer  ;  but  tier*  were  «iiy  3 
of  ;.wbich  only  17/216  were  eorrert  iii  sense,  JkHivitrg 
*ir«red  26,7  1  4.  The  3  1  ,  1  59  answers  .e0nt»»e«l  *,W  fl 
ia  grammar  ;  3.733  errors  ai  $|«Uiitg  ;  and  3o;t47  er 

*  ,  Is  ih*  Ctrli*  9choe{i  , 


Ten  thousand  copies  of  the  168-page  survey  of  the  Boston  schools,  from  which 
this  page  was  taken,  were  printed  in  1845.  The  report  contained  elaborate  statistical 
tables  comparing  the  achievement  of  pupils  in  the  various  schools  and  an  index  number 
for  each  school  by  means  of  which  the  relative  rank  of  all  the  schools  in  all  the  ex- 
aminations  was  determined. 


20 


SCHOOL  REPORTS  IN  AMERICAN   CITIES 


TABLE   II. 

SHOWING  THE  NUMBER  OF  PAGES  IN  EACH  OF  THE  TEN  EARLIEST  AVAILABLE  REPORTS  OF 
THE  BOARD  OF  CONTROLLERS  OF  PHILADELPHIA  DEVOTED  TO  EACH  OF  FOUR  SUBJECTS.  S>^ 
CHART  I  FOR  A  GRAPHIC  ILLUSTRATION  OF  THE  PER  CENT  OF  THE  TOTAL  AMOUNT  OF  SPACE 
IN  THE  TEN  REPORTS  GIVEN  TO  EACH  SUBJECT. 


1818 
to 
1819 

1820 
to 
1821 

1821 
to 
1822 

1822 
to 
1823 

1825 
to 
1826 

1S26 
to 

1827 

1827 
to 
1828 

1829 
to 
1830 

1830 
to 
1831 

1832 
to 
1833 

;j 

jjl 

^| 

Statement   of    President 
Board    

of    School 
4. 

4  5 

G 

5  5 

7  5 

6  5 

Q 

59  0 

53  ° 

Auditor's   Report    

4 

3 

3  5 

2  5 

04  f\ 

Directory  of  Schools  and 
Abstract  of  Schools  Law 

Officers..      2.5 
2.5 

2.3 

1. 

4.5 

3. 

15.3 
2.5 

13.8 
2.3 

Total    . 

..  13.0 

7.5 

10.5 

11.0 

10.8 

11. 

11.5 

10.0 

12.5 

13. 

no  s 

The   total   content   of   these   ten   Philadelphia   school   reports   is    included   in    the    four*  classifications.      The 
totals  at  the  bottom  indicate  the  number  of  pages  in  each  report. 

The    last    column   on    the    extreme    right    gives    the    per    cent    of    the    total    number    of    pages    in    the    ten 
reports  devoted  to  each  subject. 


CHART    NO.    1 

Showing   the  percentage   of   the   total   space   devoted   to  different    classes   of   subject-matter   in    ten   annual 
reports  of  the  Board  of  Controllers  of   Philadelphia  issued   between   1819  and   1833. 


Statement   of   School    Board    . . .  53.2 


Auditor's   Report    30. 


Directories   13.8 


Abstract   of    School    Law 


ORIGIN  AND  DEVELOPMENT  OF  CITY  SCHOOL  REPORTING  21 


TABLE    in 

CONTENTS  OF  ANNUAL  SCHOOL  REPORTS  OF  PHILADELPHIA  FROM  1834  TO  1843  (INCLUSIVE). 
THE  FIGURES  UNDER  THE  DATES  REPRESENT  THE  NUMBER  OF  PAGES  DEIVOTED  TO  THE  SUB- 
JECTS LISTED  AT  THE  LEFT.  SEE  CHART  2  FOR  A  GRAPHIC  ILLUSTRATION  OF  PER  CENT  OF  THE. 
TOTAL  AMOUNT  OF  SPACE  IN  THE  TEN  REPORTS  GIVEN  TO  EACH  SUBJECT. 

|  S 

s       ll 


O         r-> 
00         08 


rr    4->  Q 

£0        "3 
If       32 


33333        33333         I« 


Directories    3       2       2     ..       6       8.5     14     12  21     24  92.5  27.8 

Statement  of  policy  and  summary  of  results  by  board.    6      6      5     10    10      9          9    11  11      8  85  25.6 

High   School   Principal's  reports    9    11  7    22.5  49.5  14. » 

Financial     statement     4       2      3       3       4       3.5       4      4  6     14  47.5  14.3 

Names   of  high    school   pupils   with   occupation   and 

addresses    of    parents     3      2  6      4  J5  4.5 

High   School   Course  of   Study    4     ..  3      4  11  3.3 

Distribution    of    high    school    entrance    examination 
grades    by    elementary    schools    from    which    pupils 

came 1      2  2       1.5  6.5  2.0 

Report  of  School  Board  Committee  on  High  School 2     ..  4     ....  6  1.8 

Report   of   School   Board   Committee   on   Elementary 

School    5     5  1.5 

Miscellaneous : 1  9      5  15  4.5 

Total    13     10     10     18     20     21         46     43  69     83  333  100.2 

ilncludes  names  of  distinguished  high  school  pupils   (those  making  highest  grades)   attendance  statistics,, 

report   by    a   high    school    teacher   on    a   high   school   observatory,    report   on    Teachers'  Salaries,  and    a  letter 
quoted    from   th<;   State   Superintendent   of   Schools. 


22 


SCHOOL  REPORTS  IN  AMERICAN  CITIES 


CHART  NO. 


Showing  the  percentage  of  total  space  devoted  to  the  different  claases  of  subject- 
matter  in  ten  annual  reports  of  the  Board  of  Controllers  of  Philadelphia  issued  between 
1834  and  1843. 


Directories  27.8 


Statement   of    School   Board    23.6 


Report  of  High  School  Principal 


.   14.9 


Financial    Statement     14.3 


Names  of  High  School  Pupils,  Vocation 

&  Address  of  Parents    4.5 


High  School  Course  of  Study   3.3 


Distribution   of    High    School    Entrance 
Examination   Grades*    2.0 


Report   of    Board    Committee    on    High 
School   ,      1.8 


Report  of  Board  Committee  On 

Elementary   School    1.5 


I 
I 

I 


Miscellaneous    4.5 


*By  elementary  schools  from  which  the  pupils  came. 


ORIGIN  AND  DEVELOPMENT  OF  CITY  SCHOOL  REPORTING  23 


TABLE  rv. 

SHOWING  THE  NUMBER  OF  PAGES  DEVOTED  TO  EACH  OF  NINETEEN  SUBJECTS  IN  THE  AN- 
NUAL REPORTS  OF  THE  SCHOOL  COMMITTEE  OF  BRIGHTON,  MASSACHUSETTS  FOR  CERTAIN  YEARS 
BETWEEN  1847  AND  1851. 


oo         es         o         c* 

TH                rH                rH                -H 

I-              CO              05              r-l 
en              c3l              35              S? 

333 

o 

1 

g 

o 

a 

Is 

Sf 

ll 

0 

a« 

Sf 

83 

sf 

i! 

It 

Survey    of    School    Conditions              .  15        13        12        12 

9.5     10         15.5 

13 

18.5     12 

130.5 

51.5 

Budget    and    Finance                       ....     1          2          3.5      1.8 

3.0      5.5       3.5 

3.5 

3.5         .8 

28.1 

11.1 

School   Board   Summary    and   Rec.    ..2.8      3.5         .2      3 

1.5         .7       2.8 
1           2.5      2 

.1 
1 

2.3         .9 
2.5       1.6 

17.8 
16.3 

7.0 
6.4 

Buildings    and    Bldg.    Programs    2          1.8      2          1 
Teachers                                                            -3         .3         .2     .... 

1.5         .7       2 
1.3 

2.5 
2.5 

.6       1.4 
1.6         .6 

15.5 
6.8 

6.1 
2.7 

4.0       2 

6 

2.4 

1           1 

4         .... 

6 

2.4 

Public    Lectures                                          ...       1              7         .6 

.6         .5         .5 

1 

4.9 

1.9 

Mass.    State    Bd.    of    Education     

4.5 

4.5 

1.8 

School    Calendar    

1 

1             .8 

3.8 

1.5 

3 

1.2 

1.5 

1.5 

.6 

1.2     

1.2 

.5 

1 

1      1 

1 

1       I 

.8  f 

1.4 

7 

.7J 

Totals    24.1     25.1     21.9     19.1     17.1     20.9     30.6    31.6    40.2    23         253.6     100.2 

The  Table  roads— In  the  Report  for  1847-S,  15  pages  were  given  over  to  a  sucvey  of  school  conditions 
etc.  The  subjects  are  arranged  in  the  order  of  the  total  number  of  pages  devoted  to  each  in  all  the  reports 
studied.  See  Chart  3  for  a  graphic  representation  of  the  total  amount  of  space  in  the  ten  reports  given 
to  each  subject. 


24  SCHOOL  REPORTS  IN  AMERICAN   CITIES 


CHART   NO.   3 

Showing    the    percentage    of    total    space    devoted    to    each    class    of    subject-matter    in    ten    annual    reports 
of   the   School   Committee   of   Brighton,    Massachusetts   issued  between   1848  and   1864. 


Survey    of    School    Conditions    . .  51.5 


Budget    and    Finance    11.1 


School   Board  Summary  and 
Recommendatioas    7.0 


Census,    Enrollment,    Attendance  6.4 

Buildings    &    Building    Programs  6.1 

Teachers    ......................  2.7 

Course    of   Study    ..............  2.4 


Rules  of  School  Committee    ____     2.4 


Public   Lectures    ...............     1.9 


Massachusetts  State   Board   of 
Education    1.8 


School   Calendar    1.7 

Work  of  School  Committee    1.5 

Directory  of  School  Officers   1.2 

Miscellaneous  2.5 


I 
I 
I 

I 
I 

I 


ORIGIN  AND  DEVELOPMENT  OF  CITY  SCHOOL  REPORTING  25 

If  Charts  I  and  II,  which  show  the  content  of  early  Philadel- 
phia school  reports,  are  compared  with  Chart  III  which  shows 
the  content  of  the  reports  of  the  school  committee  of  Brighton, 
Mass.,  one  rather  striking  difference  will  be  observed.  The 
greatest  per  cent  of  space  in  the  Brighton,  Mass,  report  is  de- 
voted to  a  survey  of  actual  school  conditions,  in  which  the  school 
committee  very  definitely  reported  on  the  general  state  of  each 
of  the  schools  of  the  town  with  respect  to  the  quality  of  instruc- 
tion, the  general  success  of  the  teachers'  methods  and  the  general 
state  of  the  school  accommodations.  .  The  Philadelphia  school 
report  tended  to  run  more  to  directories  and  reports  of  principals, 
and,  as  might  be  expected  from  the  pauper  school  attitude  to- 
ward education,  the  school  board  statements  in  the  Philadelphia 
reports  were  more  in  the  nature  of  propaganda  than  reports  on 
the  effectiveness  of  instruction  in  the  different  schools.  A  more 
detailed  analysis  of  the  content  of  the  reports  issued  by  the 
Philadelphia  Board  of  Controllers  between  1819-1833,  shows 
that  the  following  topics  were  discussed : 

The  legal  authority  for  making  the  annual  report,  difficulties  facing 
the  board  in  the  beginning  of  its  work,  a  survey  of  previous  attempts 
at  providing  free  education  in  Philadelphia,  a  description  of  the  system 
of  schools  established  under  the  act  of  March  6th,  1818,  the  number 
and  distribution  of  pupils  by  schools,  condition  of  schools  as  deter- 
mined by  visits  made  by  school  board  committees,  explanations  of  ex- 
penditures, the  subjects  of  instruction  for  boys  and  girls,  attendance, 
child  labor,  expenditures  per  capita  of  pupils  enrolled,  justification  of 
establishment  of  a  school  for  colored  pupils,  a  discussion  of  the  im- 
portance of  education,  the  need  for  legislation  which  would  keep 
youthful  beggars  and  "depredators"  away  from  the  wharves,  the  need 
for  a  compulsory  school  law,  the  improvement  of  discipline,  a  dis- 
cussion of  a  manual  of  Lancasterian  instruction  and  recommendations 
of  infant  schools  for  children  under  five  years  of  age. 

Partly  as  an  outgrowth  of  the  New  England  town  meeting 
and  partly  as  an  outgrowth  of  the  practices  of  the  early  public 
school  societies,  the  educational  aspirations  of  American  cities 
during  the  period  from  1820  to  1850  led  to  the  development  of 
the  custom  of  publishing  school  reports.  The  reports  were  in- 
fluenced in  many  cases  both  in  form  and  content  by  the  reports 


26  SCHOOL  REPORTS  IN  AMERICAN   CITIES 

of  private  or  semi-private  academies.  The  establishment  of 
State  Boards  of  Education  gave  encouragement  to  the  custom 
of  publishing  school  reports  and  resulted  in  definite  suggestions 
with  respect  to  the  statistical  part  of  the  reports. 

The  typical  school  publication  of  American  cities  early  came 
to  be  the  annual  school  report.  This  publication  was  looked  on 
by  school  committees  and  boards  of  education  as  a  means  of 
popularizing  public  education  and  of  creating  sentiment  for 
better  school  equipment,  better  buildings,  better  teachers,  more 
faithful  attendance  of  pupils,  and  more  efficient  instruction,  as 
well  as  a  means  of  reporting  on  the  manner  in  which  they  had 
performed  the  duties  of  their  office.  The  statements  quoted 
from  school  committees  and  state  school  commissioners  show 
that  in  New  England,  at  least,  annual  reports  were  intended 
primarily  for  the  general  public  and  that  the  desired  circulation 
was  "a  copy  for  every  family." 


CHAPTER  II. 
TYPES  AND  COST  OF  SCHOOL  PUBLICATIONS. 

It  is  the  purpose  of  this  chapter  to  show: 

1.  The  types  of  school  publications  used  in  American  school 
systems. 

2.  The  number  of  copies  issued  and  the  possible  extent  of 
the  circulation  of  each  type. 

3.  The    regularity   with   which   the   different   publications 
are  issued. 

4.  The  audience  which  each  type  is  intended  to  reach. 

5.  Evidence  as  to  the  relative  weight  attached  to  each  type 
by  city  superintendents  as  an  effective  means  of  reaching 
the   general   public. 

6.  The  amount  of  money  spent  for  school  publications  by 
types,  by  sections  of  the  United  States  and  by  sizes  of 
cities. 

7.  The  total  expenditures  by  cities  for  school  publications 
issued  during  the  twelve  months  preceding  April-May 
1920  and  the  total  cost  by  cities  of  the  latest  issues  of  all 
publications  used  during  the  past  five  years. 

After  a  brief  description  of  the  means  by  which  the  informa- 
tion was  secured,  the  data  will  be  presented  in  tabular  form 
and  photographic  illustrations  of  most  of  the  types  of  school 
publications  will  be  shown.  The  chapter  will  close  with  a  sum- 
mary of  some  of  the  outstanding  points  presented  in  the  tables 
and  a  discussion  of  four  types  of  school  reports  with  which  the 
tables  do  not  deal. 

In  order  to  determine  the  practice  now  followed  by  American 
city  school  systems  in  the  publication  of  reports  and  other  ma- 
terial designed  either  directly  or  indirectly  to  acquaint  any  por- 
tion of  the  public  with  facts  about  the  schools,  a  questionnaire 
the  form  of  which  is  described  in  Appendix  B.  was  sent  to 
superintendents  of  schools  in  560  cities  of  8,000  population  and 

(27) 


28  SCHOOL  REPORTS  IN  AMERICAN   CITIES 

over.  Replies  were  received  from  242  cities  from  40  states 
representing  every  section  of  the  United  States. 

A  list  of  the  cities  which  furnished  the  information  is  given 
in  Appendix  C.  which  shows  after  the  name  of  each  city,  all 
the  types  of  school  publications  reported  by  the  superintendent 
as  having  been  issued  during  the  past  five  years. 

In  some  of  the  tables  which  follow,  cities  are  distributed  ac- 
cording to  the  following  sections  of  the  United  States : 

Section  1. — New  England — includes  Connecticut,  Maine,  Massachu- 
setts, New  Hampshire,  Rhode  Island  and  Vermont. 

Section  2. — Middle  Atlantic — includes  New  Jersey,  New  York  and 
Pennsylvania. 

Section  3. — East  North  Central — includes  Illinois,  Indiana,  Michigan, 
Ohio  and  Wisconsin. 

Section  4. — West  North  Central — includes  Iowa,  Kansas,  Minnesota, 
Missouri,  Nebraska,  North  Dakota  and  South  Dakota. 

Section  5. — South  Atlantic — includes  Delaware,  District  of  Columbia, 
Florida,  Maryland,  North  Carolina,  South  Carolina,  Virginia  and 
West  Virginia. 

Section  6. — East  South  Central — includes  Alabama,  Kentucky,  Missis- 
sippi and  Tennessee. 

Section  7. — West  South  Central — includes  Arkansas,  Louisiana,  Okla- 
homa and  Texas. 

Section  8. — Mountain — includes  Arizona,  Colorado,  Idaho,  Montana, 
Nevada,  New  Mexico,  Utah  and  Wyoming. 

Section  9. — Pacific  Coast — includes  California,  Oregon  and  Washing- 
ton. 

In  other  tables,  the  cities  are  distributed  according  to  the  one  of 
the  following  population  groups  into  which  they  fall.1 

Group    1    8,000  to     15,000 

Group    2    15,000  to     20,000 

Group  3 20,000  to     30,000 

Group    4    30,000  to     50,000 

Group    5    - 50,000  to  100,000 

Group    6    100,000  to  300,000 

Group  7 300,000  and  over. 

1  The  population  was  taken  from  the  preliminary  reports  of  the  1920 
census  where  the  figures  were  available  by  May  1,  1920.  In  other 
cases,  the  latest  estimate  of  the  Bureau  of  the  Census  was  used. 


TYPES  AND  COST  OF  SCHOOL  PUBLICATIONS 


29 


Reports  were  received  from  85  cities  in  population  group  1 ; 
22  in  group  2 ;  38  in  group  3 ;  44  in  group  4 ;  29  in  group  5 ;  14 
in  group  6  and  10  in  group  7. 

The  total  number  of  cities  in  each  state  to  which  the  question- 
naire was  sent,  as  well  as  the  number  and  per  cent  of  the  cities 
from  which  replies  were  received,  is  shown  by  sections  and  by 
states  in  Tables  V  and  VI. 

TABLE  V. 


si 

**    58 
OS    C 

!§ 

"S  'B, 

m  which  replies 
eceived 

ll 

0  | 

g  * 

8  8 

<=  2  ? 

.  a 

o  & 

6? 

£S  % 

X  t 

0,2 

Section  1 

107 

71 

66 

Section  4, 

West  North  Central    

50 

23 

46 

Section  2, 

Middle  Atlantic   

120 

54 

45 

Section  7, 

West  Sbuth  Central   

29 

12 

41 

Section  3 

East    North   Central    , 

120 

46 

38 

Section  6 

East  South  Central    

29 

9 

31 

Section  9 

Pacific  Coast   

32 

9 

28 

Section  5 

South  Atlantic                       .        ... 

49 

13 

27 

Section  8 

24 

5 

21 

Total   

560 

242 

43 

30 


SCHOOL  REPORTS  IN  AMERICAN  CITIES 


TABLE    VI. 

SHOWING  THE  NUMBER   OP  CITIES   IN   EACH   STATE   TO   WHICH   THE   INQUIRY 

RELATIVE  TO  SCHOOL  PUBLICATIONS  WAS  SENT,  TOGETHER  WITH  THE 

NUMBER  AND  PER  CENT  OF  CITIES  IN  EACH  STATE  REPLYING. 


No,  of-cities  to  which     Number  of  cities    Per  Cent  of  Qities 
inquiry  was  sent  replying  replying 


Alabama    

8 

2 

25 

Arizona  

2 

1 

50 

Arkansas    

5 

1 

20 

California   

22 

8 

36 

Colorado    

8 

2 

25 

Connecticut  

29 

20 

69 

Delaware  

1 

0 

0 

District    of    Columbia    

1 

0 

0 

Florida  

4 

0 

0 

Georgia   

11 

6 

55 

Idaho   

2 

o  • 

0 

Illinois    

45 

20 

44 

Indiana  .  .  .   

11 

4 

36 

Iowa  

11 

5 

44 

Kansas  .   .,.  

3 

2 

67 

Kentucky  

5 

4 

80 

2 

2 

100 

Maine  

3 

1 

83 

Maryland  

2 

1 

50 

Massachusetts   

49 

30 

61 

Michigan    

31 

14 

45 

Minnesota    

12 

4 

33 

Mississippi  

9 

3 

33 

Missouri   

14 

7 

50 

Montana    

6 

1 

17 

Nebraska    

5 

1 

20 

Nevada  

1 

0 

0 

New    Hampshire    

9 

8 

89 

New    Jersey     

38 

20 

53 

New    Mexico     

1 

0 

0 

New    York     

58 

21 

36 

North    Carolina    

9 

1 

H 

North    Dakota     

2 

2 

100 

Ohio    

24 

3 

12 

Oklahoma   .    .   

10 

4 

40 

Oregon    

5 

o 

o 

Pennsylvania  

24 

13 

54 

Rhode    Island     

12 

7 

58 

South    Carolina     

6 

1 

17 

South    Dakota     

3 

2 

67 

Tennessee  

7 

0 

o 

Texas    

12 

5 

42 

Utah    

1 

o 

o 

Vermont    

5 

5 

100 

Virginia   

1J 

3 

30 

Washington    

5 

1 

20 

West  Virginia  

5 

1 

20 

Wisconsin  

9 

5 

56 

Wyoming    

3 

1 

33 

560 


242 


TYPKS  AND  COST  OF  SCHOOL  PUBLICATIONS 


31 


TABLE  VII. 

SHOWING   THE  TOTAL   NUMBER   OF  CITIES  OUT   OF  242   REPORTING  IN   WHICH 

EACH  OF  THE  DIFFERENT  TYPES  OF  SCHOOL  PUBLICATIONS  ARE  ISSUED 

AND   A  DISTRIBUTION   OF  THE   CITIES   PUBLISHING   EACH  TYPE 

BY   SECTIONS^   OF   THE   UNITED  STATES. 


^o^l^S^I^S^E^S^Jj 


11 


°a>  oo  ?       o       o       5  £  <= 

_£,MofcCQb«nb£O,W)O.W)C,bCD,tJ)Dlc' 

2  £?  .2  ^  B,  2  £  £  .2  £  -2  £  .5  2  .S  £  .2  £  *»  2 
I  fl  |  o  |  ^  |  -  1  -  1  -g  I*  |  <s  g  ^  |  - 


Kind  of  Report 

o  ^ 

d-S 

rr-2 

1: 

*- 

SJ 

"i! 

o  S 

£* 
£8 

*I 

^^ 
t?« 

o| 

o>  g; 

^"M 

*a*l 

|2|& 

S 

| 

£» 

z« 

s  a 

o-S  o 

-  § 

*§ 

a  o 

•s§ 

•S 

p 

?  hn 

Is 
"S 

"o       "C 

"3 

£  S 

a:3 

3  53 
"C 

3  +2 

-1^1 

3 

it 

l«l 

&  d 

CO* 

^    0 

*  6 

co  2 

*i«i 

.S 
£ 

159 

71 

33 

20 

10 

10 

3 

6     1 

5 

16 

4 

5 

8 

1     . 

1 

7 

3 

2 

1 

1 

27 

1 

8 

8 

8 

1 

4     . 

1 

40 

13 

8 

8 

5 

4 

1     1 

. 

102 

09 

26 

?1 

1fl 

o 

4 

3     1 

7 

3 

5 

1 

Course  of  Study2           

108 

?7 

18 

?3 

15 

5 

3 

8     1 

fi 

News   Bulletin    .  .                        .  .                

3 

4 

8 

8 

1 

1     . 

1 

Rules  &   Regulations  of   School   Board        

90 

?9 

14 

19 

1" 

8 

8 

5     . 

4 

30 

2 

6 

8 

6 

1 

2     . 

8 

36 

S 

8 

11 

9 

1 

1 

2     1 

Posters  »       • 

28 

S 

8 

3 

?, 

?! 

2     . 

-11 

24 

g 

5 

3 

3 

1 

1      . 

3 

1 

1 

1     . 

1 

1 

School    Board    proceedings     

4 

3 

1 

Display    cards   in    cars    

1 

1     . 

School   Directory   and   Rules   &   Regulations    .. 
Course  of   Study   and   Rules  &   Regulations    .  . 
Annual  Financial  Report  &  Estimated  Receipts 

2 
2 
1 

•• 

.. 

1 
1 

•• 

1 

i 

i    ! 

2 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

i 

Rules  &   Regulations   of   Industrial    Dept.    .  .  . 

1 

1 

1 

•• 

..    . 

No    report    issued                        

12 

4 

S 

1 

1     3 

'For  a  list  of  states  included  in  each  section  see  page  28. 
'Includes   curricula. 


32  SCHOOL  REPORTS  IN  AMERICAN  CITIES 


TABLE   VIII. 

SHOWING   THE   DISTRIBUTION   OF   CITIES   BY   SIZEi   ACCORDING   TO   THE   KIND 
OF   REPORTS   PUBLISHED. 


Kind  of  Report 


£82        2      S     8      £ 
ooo       o     o    o     o 


Annual    ........................................   49     13       27       29       22     10       9  159 

Biennial    .......................................     1       i        4        4        3      2      1  16 

Triennial    ........  ...............................     1       2         1         1         2     ..      ..  7 

Monographs    ....................................     7       2         8         2         2       2       4  27 

School    Manual     ....................................     8       4         3       10       11       3       1  40 

Schcol     Directory      .................................   21       7       18       26       15       9       6  102 

Manual    and    Directory    ...............................        1         1         1         l     ..       2  6 

Course    of    Study     ..................................   31     10       15       22       18       7       5  108 

News    Bulletin     ....................................     1     ..         5         4         6       2      3  21 

Rules   and    Regulations   of   School    Board    ...........  23      5      13      22      17      4       6  90 

Campaign    Bulletin     ................................     6      2        3        9        7       2      1  30 

Reports     in     newspaper     ...........................   15       1         8        8        2       1       1  36 

Posters    ........................................     3       2         3       10         6       2       2  28 

Newspaper    display    Ads  ...........................     6     ..         5        7        3       3     ..  24 

Monthly    reports     ...................................     2       1       ..........  3 

Students    handbook     ....................................         1       ........  1 

School    Board   proceedings    ..................................         1     .  .       3  ,4 

Display    cards   In    cars    .........................................       1  1 

School  Directory  and   Rules   and   Regulations    .................       1       1  2 

Course    of    Study    and    Rules    &    Regulations    .......     1     .  .        .  .       .  .         1     .  .      .  .  2 

Annual   Financial    Report   &   Estimated    Receipts    ......        1       ..........  1 

School   Manual   &   Rules   and   Regulations    ...........      1     ......          1      ..      ..  2 

Directory  and  Course  of  Study    .....................     1     ............  1 

Accounts   of   special    school    activities    ......................         1     ..      ..  1 

Folders   .............................................         1       ........  1 

School   Manual,    Course  of   Study   &    Rules  &   Reg  ......         1       ........  1 

Survey    ............................................         1       ........ 

Rules   &   Regulations   of    Industrial   Dept  ......................  •       1  1 

Advance    Prints    and    Reprints    .................................       1  1 

No    report   issued    ..................................     6      3         1         2       ......  12 

1For  explanation  of  size  groups  see  page   28. 


TYPES  AND  COST  OF  SCHOOL  PUBLICATIONS  33 


TABLE    IX. 

SHOWING   THE   DISTRIBUTION   OF   CITIES   ACCORDING   TO   THE   NUMBER   OF   COPIES   IN   THE   LAST 
ISSUES    OF   THE    DIFFERENT    TYPES    OF    SCHOOL,    PUBLICATIONS. 


I 

Lind  of  Report  ®  >  ^^a^^^^^^^          05 


Annual    5    9 

9108284121 

17     6     8    3 

10     3     4     1     3     1     .      . 

133 

Biennial    

4.1.. 

5     ... 

1     1     .      .     1     1     .      . 

14 

Triennial   1     . 

1     .       211.. 

6 

Monographs    3     1 

1     ...       6     .... 

211. 

2     1     .      .     1     1     .      . 

20 

School     Manual     1 

4       4     1     12     .      1     1      . 

..     1     .      . 

1121.      .      .1 

31 

School     Directory     2     3 

10      9     7     23     3     7     2     1 

11     .     1     1 

1.211... 

«5 

Manual    and    Directory     

12      

..     1     .      .     1      .      .      . 

5 

Course    of    Study    4     7 

3       8     5     16     3     1     4     . 

11     1     2     . 

31412.      .1 

77 

News    Bulletin     2     1 

..       1      .       2     .      .      .      . 

.  .     1     .      . 

1     .      .12.      .2 

13 

Rules   &   Reg.    of   School   Bd  2    3 

6       8     .     16     1     .     4     . 

10     .     3     . 

6.1.2... 

62 

Campaign    Bulletin    

1     .... 

2.1. 

2     ...     5     .     1     8 

20 

Posters    4     1 

2       21       1      .... 

2.2. 

1 

10 

Monthly     Reports     1 

1 

Students    Handbook     

..      .     1     

1 

School    Bd.    Proceedings  t  

1      ... 

1     ... 

2 

Display    cards    in    cars    

1      .... 

1 

School    Directory    and    Rules    and 

Regulations    

2     

2 

Course    of    Study    and    Rules    and 

Regulations    

1.1. 

2 

School  Manual  and  Rules  and  Regu- 

lations    

2       1      

3 

Accounts    of     special     school     ac- 

tivities     

...     1     

1 

Folders    

1 

1 

School    Manual,    Course    of    Study 

&    Rules    &   Reg  

....!.... 

1 

Survey    

. 

1     

1 

Rules     &     Regulations     of     Indus- 

trial    Department     

....!.... 

1 

Advance    Prints    and    Reprints     ...      . 

0 

NOTE:  No  city  publication  issues  fall  in  size  groups  1100-1199,   1300-1399,    1400-1499,   7000-7999  and  8000-8999. 


34 


SCHOOL  REPORTS  IN  AMERICAN  CITIES 


TABLE   X. 

NUMBER    OF   ISSUES    OF    EACH    TYPE    OF    SCHOOL    REPORT    PUBLISHED    WITHIN    THE    FIVE    YEAR 
PERIOD   ENDING   MAY   1920,    IN  242   CITIES   OF   OVER   8000   POPULATION. 


"o 

I 

Kind  of  Report                                    J 

t* 

§  i 
g  j 

Number  of  Issues  in  Five  Years 

§1 

1 

2               3 

4               5 

More 
than 
5 

"a 
§ 

Annual    +  

11 

5 

8 
3 
5 
8 
13 
4 

8               5 
8         

5           122 

159 
16 
7 
27 
40 
102 
6 
108 
21 
90 
30 
36 
28 
24 

a 

i 

4 
1 
2 
2 
1 
2 

1 

Biennial            

Triennial 

2         

3 

6 

8 

5               2 
2         
1               1 

I      1               2 
1            17 
8             79 
6 

6 
1 
1 

'"4" 

9 

i 

12 
7 
10 
3 

School  Manual   

School    Directory     ,  

18 
8 
20 
3 
10 
9 
6 

40 
2 
55 
16 
1 
3 
1 

20             11 

3             12 
1               1 
1               5 
1               1 
12 

News  Bulletin 

Rules  and  Regulations  of  School  Board       .... 

8               1 
5               3 
1         .... 

1 

8 

1               4 

2 

1 

2 
1 

2 

1 

1 

Course  of  Study  and  Rules  and  Regulations.... 
Annual    Financial  Report  &  Estimated  Receipts 
School  Manual  and   Rules  and   Regulations.... 

1 

j 

...           1 

1 

...... 

1 

Folders                       .    .        

1 
1 

School  Manual,  Course  of  Study  &  Rules  &  Reg, 

1 

1 

1 

No  Reports  Issued   .  , 

12 

TYPES  AND  COST  OF  SCHOOL  PUBLICATIONS  35 


TABLE  XI. 

SHOWING  THE  YEAR  IN  WHICH  THE  LATEST  ISSUE  OF  EACH  TYPE  OP  SCHOOL  REPORT  WAS 

PUBLISHED. 


Year  in  Which  Last  Issue  was  Published. 
Kind     of     Report  1910     1911     1912     1913     1914     1015     1916     1917     1918     1919 

or 
before 


£<o 

1.2 

11  nnual    3 

*  1142 

12 

96 

30 

149i 

Biennial    

1           2 

6 

3 

4 

16. 

Triennial    

2           1 

1 

1 

1 

6; 

Monographs     

1     1           2 

5 

9 

5 

23 

School   Manual    

15221 

4 

11 

9 

35 

School    Directory    

1     1     

2 

74 

16 

94 

Manual   and   Directory    

4 

2 

ft 

Course    of    Study    1     .... 

4           2           6           6           7         10 

17 

36 

10 

9» 

News    Bulletin    

1     

1 

3 

10 

15 

Itules  &  Regulations  of   School   Board         4     

2           2         11           5         10           7 

14 

13 

13 

81 

Campaign    Bulletin     

112 

2 

11 

9 

26 

Reports  in  Newspaper   

15 

9 

24 

Posters     

1     

10 

10 

21 

Newspaper  Display  Ads    

1 

6 

8 

15 

Monthly    Reports    

3 

8 

Students    Handbook    , 

1 

1 

School    Bd.    Proceedings    

2 

2 

Display   Cards  in   Cars    

1 

1 

School  Directory  &  Rules  &  Regulations    

2 

2 

Course  of  Study  &  Rules  &  Regulations    

2 

2 

Annual  Financial  Report  &  Estimated 

Receipts    , 

1 

1 

School    Manual,    Rules    &    Regulations    ....           1     . 

1 

2 

Directory   and   Course   of   Study    

1     

1 

Accounts   of   Special   School    Activities    

1 

1 

Folders    

1 

1 

School  Manual,  Course  of  Study,   Rules 

and    Regulations    

1     , 

1 

Survey    

1 

1 

Rules  &  Regulations  of  Indust'l  Dept  

1     

1 

Advance  Prints  and  Reprints    

0 

36 


SCHOOL  REPORTS  IN  AMERICAN   CITIES 


TABLE    XII. 

DISTRIBUTION   OP  TYPES  OF  SCHOOL   REPORTS  ACCORDING   TO   THE 

CLASSES  FOR  WHICH  THEY   ARE   INTENDED 
Column  I  II  III  IV  V 


Kind  of   Report 

General  public  and 
professional  school 
group  

Professional  school 

Professional  school 
group  and  citizens 
leaders  

Possible  continua- 
tion school  students 

Miscellaneous  

1 

114 

19 

17 

0 

o 

150 

Biennial    

8 

0 

5 

0 

o 

13 

Triennial    

4 

1 

1 

0 

o 

6 

Monographs 

14 

10 

2 

o 

o 

26 

School  Manual 

14 

17 

4 

o 

o 

35 

School    Directory    

31 

50 

6 

o 

1 

88 

Manual    and    Directory 

4 

1 

o 

o 

6 

Course   of   Study 

24 

64 

5 

o 

2 

05 

News    Bulletin    

12 

6 

1 

0 

0 

19 

Rules   and    Regulations   of   School 
Campaign    Bulletin    

Board       27 
27 

46 
•  o 

5 
1 

0 
0 

2 
0 

80 

30 

Reports   in   Newspaper    . 

30 

o 

o 

1 

o 

31 

Posters    .  . 

21 

o 

1 

3 

o 

25 

20 

o 

1 

0 

22 

In  addition  to  the  classes  indicated  in  the  table,  53  per  cent  of  the  annual  reports,  44  per  cent  of  the 
biennial  reports,  43  per  cent  of  the  triennial  reports,  33  per  cent  of  the  monographs,  and  10  per  cent  of  the 
campaign  bulletins  are  intended  for  school  officials  in  other  cities. 


TABLE    XIII. 

RATINGS    GIVEN    TO    DIFFERENT    TYPES    OF    SCHOOL    PUBLICATIONS    BY    CITY    SCHOOL    SUPER- 
INTENDENTS   AS    EFFECTIVE    MEANS    FOR    REACHING    THE    GENERAL    PUBLIC. 


Kind    of    Report 

Rating 

Number 
of 

Ratings 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5           6           7           8           9         10        11         12         13 

Annual    

88 

12 

11 

6 

311       1           1       

74 

Biennial    

1 

1 

1 

1       1       1       

6 

Triennial    

1 

1 

2 

Monographs   

6 

4 

1 

2 

1           1       

15 

School    Manual     

2 

2 

3 

1       1       1       

10 

School   Directory    .... 

1 

6 

3 

1       1       4           1       

17 

Manual   and   Directory 

1 

1 

Course  of  Study    

1 

8 

1 

2 

321211       

22 

News  bulletin  

3 

3 

2 

2           1       

11 

Rules  and   Regulations 

of  School  Board  .... 

2 

1 

4 

2 

4           1       2       1 

17 

Campaign    Bulletin    .  . 

12 

3 

2 

17 

Reports   in    Newspaper 

5 

5 

1 

1       1       .... 

13 

Posters  

1 

2 

5 

6 

14 

Newspaper  display  Ads. 

4 

4 

1 

1 

1       1       

12 

Monthly    Reports    .... 

3 

3 

School   Board   Proceed- 

ings    

1 

1 

News   Items    

1 

1       

2 

Folders  

1 

1 

Survey  

1 

1 

Advance     Prints     and 

Reprints  

1 

1 

This  table  reads  as  follows: 

Out    of    74    city    school    superintendents    rating    annual    reports    on    the    basis    of    their    effectiveness    for 
.reaching   the   general   public,    38   ranked   them   first,    12  second,    11   third,   etc.     Out  of  6   city   school   super- 
intendents rating  biennial   reports,    1  ranked  them   first,    1   second,    etc.     For   a   rating   by    another  group,  see 
Table  XIV   page  59. 


TYPES  AND  COST  OF  SCHOOL,  PUBLICATIONS 


37 


TABLE   XV. 

Form  311. 

DISTRIBUTION   OF   THE    CITIES   BY    SIZE   ACCORDING  TO   THE   TOTAL   AMOUNT 
OP    EXPENDITURE    FOR    THE    LAST    ISSUES    OF   ALL    REPORTS    PUB- 
LISHED WITHIN  THE  FIVE  YEAR  PERIOD— ENDING  MAY  1920. 


Amount 
Spent 

Population  Groups 

Total  no.  of  cities 
spending  indicated 

amounts 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6     7 

$0  2 

2 

4 

0. 

...99  18 

4 

3 

1 

1 

2     1 

30 

100. 

..199  11 

3 

10 

7 

2 

.  . 

33 

200. 

..209  10 

2 

3 

8 

2 

.  . 

25 

300. 

..399  3 

1 

3 

7 

4 

18 

400. 

..499  1 

1 

2 

2 

2 

1 

9 

500. 

..599  3 

1 

1 

3 

8 

BOO. 

..699  

3 

1 

4 

700, 

..799  

1 

1 

800. 

..899  

1 

1 

2 

900. 

..999  

1 

1 

2 

1000. 

.1099  

1 

1 

1 

1 

4 

1100. 

.1199  

1 

2 

3 

6 

1200. 

.1299  

1 

1 

2 

1300. 

.1399  

1 

1 

1400. 

.1499  

1 

2 

3 

1500. 

.1599  

1 

1 

1600. 

.1699  

1 

1 

2 

2000. 

.2499  

1 

1 

2 

2500. 

.2999  

0 

3000. 

.3999  

1 

1 

2 

4000. 

.4999  

1 

1 

2 

5000. 

.5999  

1 

1 

6000. 

.6999  

0 

7000. 

.7999  

0 

8000. 

.8999  

1 

1 

Total 

48 

14 

27 

31 

22 

13  .    8 

163 

Median  Expenditure*    ..$136     $133     $217     $294     $500     $1050     $2000  $258 

Population    Groups 

1 —  8,000    to    15,000  4 —  30,000    to      50,000 

2—15,000    to    20,000  5—  50,000    to    100,000 

3—20,000    to    30,000  6—100,000    to    400,000 

7 — 300,000  and  over 

J0n   account   of   the   small   number  of   cases,    the   entire   frequency   distributions   are 
more   significant   than   the  medians. 


38  SCHOOL  REPORTS  IN  AMERICAN   CITIES 


TABLE   XVI. 

SHOWING  THE  DISTRIBUTION  OF  CITIES  BY  SECTIONS  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES 

ACCORDING   TO   THE   TOTAL  AMOUNT    OF   EXPENDITURES    FOR   THE 

LAST   ISSUES  OF   ALL  REPORTS   PUBLISHED. 


I? 

Amount    Spent  g-  2. 

S 


S       S 
mm 


$0  

2 

1          1 

4 

0..100     

11 

4 

2 

23121 

4         30 

100..  199    

16 

10 

4 

1           1           1         .... 

33 

200..  299    

5 

8 

6 

2           2         

2         25 

300..  399    

6 

7 

2         ..           1           2     .. 

18 

400..  499    

3 

1 

3 

1           1         

9 

500.  .599    

4 

2 

] 

1         ..      .. 

8 

600..  699    

1 

1 

2     .. 

4 

700..  799    

1 

1 

800..  899    

1 

1         ..      .. 

2 

900.  .999    

1 

1 

2 

1000.1099    

1 

1                       1                 .. 

1           4 

1100.1199    

1 

2 

2 

1         .... 

6 

1200.1299    

1 

1           2 

1300.1399    

1 

1 

1400.1499     

1 

1         ..          ..            1     .. 

3 

1500.1599    

1 

1 

1600.1999    

1 

1         

2 

2000.2499    

1 

1         

2 

2500.2999    

0 

3000.3999    

2 

2 

4000.4999    

1 

1 

2 

5000.5999    

1         

1 

6000.6999    

0 

7000.7999    

0 

S000.8999    

1 

1 

Total      55         39         24         13  8  7  7       2  8       163 


Median    Expenditure    $197    $269    $300    $325     $200    $550    $375    $0    $100    $258 


TYPKS  AND  COST  OF  SCHOOL  PUBLICATIONS 


39 


TABLE  XVII. 

TOTAL    EXPENDITURES    FOR    PUBLICATIONS    IN    THE    TWELVE .  MONTHS 
PRECEDING  APRIL-MAY,    1920,    BY   SIZES   OP   CITIES. 


Amount    Spent 


Number  of   Cities   Spending   Amounts  _gjj 
Indicated     at     the     Left     in         o  w 

Population   Groups 
123456  7 


$0 

9    4     3 

1 

1 

1 

1    20 

0. 

..100  

19    5     5 

5 

4 

3 

41 

100. 

..199   

11    3     7 

6 

1 

28 

200. 

..299   

614 

4 

1 

2 

18 

300. 

..399   

1   ..     1 

6 

3 

1 

12 

400. 

..499   

12 

2 

2 

1 

8 

500. 

..599   

1         1 

3 

1 

1     7 

600. 

..699   

1         2 

3 

700. 

..799  

0 

800. 

..899  

1 

3 

2 

6 

900. 

..999  

2 

1 

3 

1000. 

.1099  

1 

1     2 

1100. 

.1199    

1 

2 

3 

1200. 

.  1299  

1 

1 

1300. 

.1399  

0 

1400. 

.1499   

0 

1500. 

.1599   

0 

1600. 

.  1999   

1     1 

£000. 

.2499   

1 

1 

2500. 

.2999   

1     1 

3000. 

.3999   

1 

1     2 

4000. 

.4999   

0 

5000. 

.5999   

1 

1 

6000. 

.9999   

0 

10000 

and  over  

2     2 

Total     48      14 


27         29        21 


13 


8       160 


Median     Expenditure^      $53     $60     $137     $162     $200     $400     $2000     $168 

Group  1..     8,000  to     15,000   population 

Group  2..   15,000  to     20,000   population 

Group  3..  20,000  to     30,000   population 

Group  4..  30000  to     50,000   population 

Group  5..   50,000  to  100,000   population 

Group  6.  .100,000  to  300,000- population 

Group  7.  .300,000  and  over  population 

^Except  in  the  group  1  and  total  columns  the  number  of  cases  is  so  small  as  to  make 
the   medians  of  little   significance. 


40 


SCHOOL  REPORTS  IN  AMERICAN   CITIES 


An   Illustration  of   the  Types  of  School  Publications  in   Canton,   111.,    a   City  of   lo.OOO* 

Population. 


An«u»l  HUf»rt 

of  itr    . 
Canton  Public  School* 


t 


Kules  and  Reguiati ..P- 

Public  Schools 

Can tonUnion School  DistnVi 


EXTRA!      EXTRA;        EXTRA1 

^   The  IVnnnn.t   ^ 

BETTER 
ENGLISH 
WEEK 

SKXSATIOX  OK  V| 


JEstimate. 


TYPES  AND  COST  OF  SCHOOL  PUBLICATIONS 

This  illus  ration,    together  with  the  one  on  page  43   shows  the  types 
of  school  reports  used  in  Eugene,   Oregon,   a  city  of  15.0001  population. 


41 


of  High  School  Stud 


2UGESE  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS 
Bugens,  Orogori. 


August  23.  1917. 


To  Boys  of  th«  Sugone  High  School: 


JSBt 


?1£  jrjKlff  jr3?I4  vrg.lS  vrs, 16 


53  i_M. 


fe 


:™J8p  «Jv»ai_4    ^   :    . 

J LwJ 


s.  On 
Jun«  Ite,  1917. 


'Estimate. 


42 


SCHOOL  REPORTS  IN  AMERICAN   CITIES 


This  illustration,  together  with  the  one  on  page  41'  shows  the  types  of  school 
reports  used  in  Eugene,   Oregon,   a  city  of  15.0001   population. 


Facts  A bout_Eugene,  Oregon 

P 

COURSE  OF  STUDY 


ARITHMETIC 


A  Plan  for  School  Health  Work 
in  the  Smai!  Citv 


1919-20  DIRECTORY 

Eugene  Public  Schools 

SCHOOL  DISTRICT  SO.  4 


ANNOUNCEMENTS 


COURSE  of  STUDY 


Eugene  Hi 


00  140"!  CCSTR 


^Estimate. 


TYPES  AND  COST  OF  Scnooiv  PUBLICATIONS  43 


School  Directories,    Rules  and    Regulations  of   the   School   Board   and   Directory   and 
By-laws   Combined. 

Types  of   School   Publications  which   are   Extensively  Used  in   American   Cities. 


The  Public  School* 

B»!  V«lcy.  CaUforoin 

OfficUi  Organization 


t  \ir.M  i  Y  AND  itltt'KK.vTI 


PUBLIC  SCHCX)LS 
<viND  TEACHERS 


44 


SCHOOL  REPORTS  IN  AMERICAN   CITIES 


Teachers    Bulletins — issued    to   further    the    professional    interests   of    teachers    and    in 
some  cases  as  propaganda  for  securing  a  general  increase  in  teachers'  salaries. 


PITTSBURGH 


BULLETIN 


Los  Angeles 


School  Journal 


TYPES  AND  COST  of  SCHOOL  PUBLICATIONS 


45 


This   page   represents    the   type    of   monographs   which    some    American    cities    are   now    largely    utilizing 
to  take  the  place  of  the  annual  report. 


>  f  I  z  f  I    ?      5 
R»l|jMrf0! 


»  o 

° 


46  SCHOOL  REPORTS  IN  AMERICAN   CITIES 

Official    School    Bulletins:      These    represent    the    "house   organ"    type    of    communication. 


TYPDS  AND  COST  OF  SCHOOL  PUBLICATIONS 


47 


Campaign    bulletins:     intended    directly    to    secure    public    support    for    definite 

measures. 


Should  the  Salaries  if  the 
Public  School  Teachers  of 
Rochester  be  Increased? 


The  Board  of  Education 
answers  this  question 
in  full  in  this  pamphlet 

Read  it  carefully  and 
give  us  YOUR  opinion 


The  Board  ol  Education 
Rochester.  N.  Y. 


Our  Public  Schools 


"Vote  ^Bondf  for  Schools 
March  8th,  1920 


DES   MO1NES   MUST   NOW    FACE 
ITS  SCHOOL  PROBLEM 

City  Fh't  Yean  Behind  With  Its 
School  Building  '"Program 


W/7  KV  />,n  O«r 
Hit  Childre 


A  SQUARE 
DEAL  TO 
THE   LITTLE 
CHILDREN  of 
BUFFALO 


Citizens  of  Winston-Salem 


awing  tte  WarW  W»r,  we  gm  «way  $400,000 
to  the  Red  Cross,  V,  M.  C.  X,  lavish  Refe{, 
United  War  Work  Fund  and  after  good  cauws 


Winston -Salem's  N 
School  Program 


48 


SCHOOL  REPORTS  IN  AMERICAN   CITIES 


A   sample    of    newspaper    publicity.      The    typewritten    Report    of    the    City    Super- 
intendent to  the  School  Board  was  well  summarized  in  the  daily  press. 


JREGON.  MONDAY  KVENttSQ,  «?NE  It,  lilt. 


SCiOtSOFEUGEl 
IS  TOLD    BEHT, 


City  Superintendent  Say»  Him 
of  Board  to  Get  Maximum  of 


TYPSS  AND  COST  OF  SCHOOL  PUBLICATIONS  49 


A  sample  of  newspaper  advertising.  Contains  too  much  copy  for  the  space 
allotment  and  lacks  unity,  but  illustrates  an  attempt  at  informing  the  "public" 
about  the  schools. 


Canton  Public  Schools 

Begin  Tuesday,  Sept.  2 

Every  child  should  start  the  first  day.  Books  now  are  on  sale  at  the  book  store. 
Present  promotion  card  when  purchasing.  Do  not  purchase  notebooks  and  do  not 
write  in  your  books  before  seeing  the  teacher. 

GradeiSchool  Districts 

For  the  present,  districts  will  remain  the  same  as  last  year.  All  Seventh  and 
Eighth  grade  pupil*  will  go  to  Grammar  School. 

Enrollment 

High  School  pupils  will  enroll  the  week  preceding  the  beginning  of  school  as 
follows:  Freshmen  on  Tuesday,  Sophmores  on  Wednesday,  and  Juniors  and  Seniors 
on  Thursday.  Personal  conference*  arranged  when  necessary.  Seventh  and  Eighth 
Grade  children  will  enroll  and  be  assigned  to  sections  on  Thursday,  August  28th — 
the  Seventh  Grade  pupils  at  9:00  a.  m.  and  the  Eighth  Grade  pupils  at  1:30  p.  m. 
Purchase  books  immediately  after  being  assigned  to  class.  This  will  help  you  as 
well  as  the  bookman.  See  list  of  books  and  prices  published  in  daily  papers. 

High  School  an  Opportunity 

It  is  more  necessary  now  than  ever  before  that  every  boy  and  girl  get  a  high 
school  education.  Canton  High  offers  the  opportunity.  Courses  offered:  College 
Preparatory,  General,  Commercial,  Household  Arts,  Industrial,  and  Teachers' 
Training.  High  School  fully  accredited  by  North  Central  Association.  Commercial 
work  as  good  as  best  business  colleges.  Other  high  school  subject*  in"  connection 
with'  business  courses.  All  our  graduates  in  good  positions.  We  cannot  supply  the 
demand.  Remember  all  this  without  any  expense  except  your  books. 

All  Work  Absolutely  Free 

If  you  live  outside  Canton  your  tuition  is  paid  by  the  non-high  school  district. 
It  costs  you  nothing  if  you  live  inside  the  district.  Every  boy  and  girl  can  get  an 
education.  Do  not  make  the  mistake  of  dropping  out  of  school  now.  If  you  do  it  will 
be  the  great  regret  of  your  life.  Stay  in  school!  It  pays! 


G.  W.  GAYLER,  Sup't. 


50 


SCHOOL  REPORTS  IN  AMERICAN   CITIES 


One   Means  of  Making  the   Public  Acquainted  with   the  Conditions  of   the  Schools. 

A  journalism  class  of  the  Long  Beach  High  School,  Cal.  had  charge  of  one  complete 
issue  of  one  of  the  daily  papers  in  the  city.  In  this  issue  they  told  the  story  of  the 
work  of  the  public  schools  in  a  very  interesting  way. 

(See    also   Page    No.    51.) 


ENROLLMENT  2,556,  GAIN 
OF  28  PER  CENT  OVER  LAST 
YEAR  AT  LOCAL  HIGH  SCHOOL 

It's  Largest  High  School  in  Country  Outside  City 
of  Los  Angeles,  and  Growing  Rapidly 


GIRLS  OF  POLY  HI 
ALL  SET  TO  RUN 
OWN  TRACK  MEET 


Tfae  rtrls  as  well  as  the  boy 


Waldo  Drake  I    thirty-five 

With    aX.  iacreaa«    in    caroHment 


tmmmmm     -MUCH  OF  VALUE  IN    i 

FRSRw   ™GSWL'S 

AT  POLY  JUNE  FIRST        CLASSES  IN  IB 


Ey*  Rloh»nj«eo 

The  High  'School  art  exhibit  ached- j 
led  for  the  first.  ' m"«»~—  ».«     it 


DEBATING  TALENT 
HEREJANKS  HIGH 

PRINT  SHOP  AT  HIGH 

SCHOOL    KEPT    BUSY    ?l  l?Frs¥,nt',ns  2VL *4  fit  TVMUf*  01/11  I 

BOTH  DAY  AND  NIGHT  01"  iTOb  MuLL 
j8Rn!7sVen«,n           H  J^tt?*!          ujftu  nv  OTUnCMTQ 

isSHS  a*slLH2ilS^M: 


Waldo  Drske 

"  i<J«a  of  the  tx>ni 
boo)   is   tc 
a  people's  unl 
ion  of  the  spirit 
of  Long  Eeacl! 
i»  illustrate* 
3832  new  itadoat) 

$£?Xi™* 
'hooi's  aims  i*  tc 
desire  to  adranct 
.d  better  their  coo- 


JE1LRY-MA1G 
TAUGHT  IN  CLASS ; 
AT  LOCAL  POLY  HI 


CANYON  CMW  FOR      THREE  CLASSES  IN 


HlSCHiLaKLS 


Helen  Klrkftmd 
A  cibta  la  the  big  Santa  At 


[PINAFORE  CAST  IS 
BUSY  REHEARSING. 


Gladys   EM 
H.    M..  &-      Plnafn 


'SHORT  STORY' STUBf 


popular  today  that  throe  clause*  of 
UK'Br  cla«sai>:n  bavo  b«eo  orgauJa«sd 
at  Poly  Higii  this  semester  under 


• 


11)iU  t&«  sttt4«nt«  of  Poly  Hi£h  mp- 
r«etet«  th*  tncroazlng  value  Of 
rAtji«i»  ia 


iliRARY  CROWDED, ..,..,..,  nmiirnmiMonr 

MRBF  Bnniyi  NFKT  YB       POPHIAR  'sTimY  METALED  PLANS  OF 

MORE  ROOM  (Uin.1        nHMKMBff^  eAOO|T,OH1B 


Marion  Sheffield 


SlUUtNl  HIUYSIUKt  1  . 
|AS  LARGE  BUSINESS 

.SHAKESPEAREAN 
DRAMA  IN  JUNE 


AERONAUTICS  IS       HIGH  SCHOOL 


GIRLS'  GYMNASIUM  IS 
MUCH  0MOWDED 


Ethel  Cook 

bo^'CAERULEA,'  H.  S.  BOOK, 
U    TO  GO  ON  PRESS  NEXT 
WEEK;  ISSUED  IN  JUNE 

Eugene  Wither 
».   ariiiaal     publication     of 
h    .-?.'iool    etistsd    by      the 


TYPES  AND  COST  OF  SCHOOL  PUBLICATIONS 


51 


This  page  shows  how  a  high  school  journalism  class  may  be  utilized  to  make  the  public  acquainted 
with  its   schools. 

(See  also  Pag©  No.    50.) 


DC 

0 
Ul 

Ul 


111 
I 


* 

^*    u         fa  J£  «45    M 

0   ff'rO  ^  *•*    9 


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Illilllll  H—  ex,, 
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If:    C-D 

00 


52  SCHOOL  REPORTS  IN  AMERICAN   CITIES 

Extracts  from  Posters  Used  in  a  School  Campaign  in  Oklahoma  City,   Oklahoma. 


1    SC 


2 

^O 
U  a: 

SH 
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55 


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£ 

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a     c 

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s    ?; 
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s   ,,: 

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TYPES  AND  COST  OP  SCHOOL,  PUBLICATIONS 


53 


CHART  NO.   4 


This    chart    shows    the    most    frequently    used    school    publications    in    242    cities    ar- 
ranged according  to  the  percent  of  cities  which  publish  the  report. 


Kind 

of 
Report 


Percent  of 
cities 
publishing 
report 


Annual  Report    60 

Course  of  Study    45 

School    Directory     4 

Rules  and   Regulations    37 

School    Manual     17 

Newspaper   Reports    (Paid)    1 

Campaign    Bulletin    12 


Posters 


121 


Monographs    11 


Newspaper    Display    Ads.     lol 


News  Bulletin 


Biennial  Report  7 

Triennial    Report     8 

Issue    No  Reports    5 


I 

• 


54  SCHOOL  REPORTS  IN  AMERICAN   CITIES 

Chart  No.  4  illustrates  the  story  which  Table  VII  was  in- 
serted to  tell.  It  shows  that  the  annual  report  is  the  most 
frequent  school  publication,  if  all  the  cities  reporting  are  con- 
sidered. This  statement  holds  very  decidedly  for  the  New  Eng- 
land States  and  is  also  true  of  the  Middle  Atlantic  and  South 
Atlantic  sections.  In  the  North  Central  States,  school  direc- 
tories and  courses  of  study  are  more  frequently  published  than 
annual  reports.  In  the  West  North  Central  section,  courses  of 
study  and  the  rules  and  regulations  of  the  school  board  are  the 
most  frequent  types  of  school  publications.  In  the  Southern 
States,  the  course  of  study  leads;  in  the  Pacific  Coast  States, 
school  directories,  and  in  the  Mountain  states  of  Arizona,  Colo- 
rado, Idaho,  Montana,  Utah  and  Wyoming,  the  modal  tendency 
is,  if  judgment  may  be  formed  from  the  small  number  of  cities 
reporting,  to  publish  nothing  at  all. 

Table  VIII  shows  that  except  for  the  fact  that  the  larger  cities 
frequently  publish  the  proceedings  of  the  school  board,  there  is 
no  great  difference  between  the  types  of  publications  in  general 
use  in  cities  of  from  8,000  to  15,000  population  and  those  of 
100,000  and  over.  A  greater  percentage  of  the  larger  cities 
however,  publish  certain  types  of  reports.  For  instances,  58 
per  cent,  of  the  cities  whose  population  is  between  8,000  and 
15,000  publish  annual  reports,  while  the  percentage  is  71  for 
cities  from  100,000  to  300,000,  and  90  for  those  above  300,000. 

Tables  IX  distributes  the  cities  reporting  according  to  the 
number  of  copies  in  the  latest  issue  of  each  of  the  different  types 
of  school  publications.  Upon  the  basis  of  the  information  in 
this  table,  it  will  be  observed  that  the  median  number  of  copies 
in  a  single  issue  of  most  of  these  publications  is  about  500.  The 
only  marked  exceptions  are  in  the  case  of  biennial  reports  where 
the  median  number  of  copies  issued  is  about  1,000,  school 
bulletins  where  the  median  falls  between  1,200  and  1,300,  and 
campaign  bulletins  where  the  median  number  is  5,000  and  the 
modal  number  is  in  the  group  marked  10,000  and  over. 

In  the  larger  cities  the  number  of  copies  per  issue  is  greater 
than  in  the  smaller  city  groups  but  the  ratio  of  the  number  of 
families  to  the  number  of  copies  per  issue  becomes  smaller 


TYPES  AND  COST  OF  SCHOOL  PUBLICATIONS  55 

rather  than  larger  as  cities  increase  in  size.  A  distribution  of 
cities  by  size  according  to  the  number  of  copies  in  the  latest  issue 
of  the  annual  report  shows  that  the  median  issue  is : 

575  copies  for  cities  between  8,000  and     15,000 

350  copies  for  cities  between  15,000  and     20,000 

590  copies  for  cities  between  20,000  and     30,000 

569  copies  for  cities  between  30,000  and     50,000 

1037  copies  for  cities  between  50,000  and  100,000 

1050  copies  for  cities  between  100,000  and  300,000 

1050  copies  for  cities  between  300,000  and  over 

For  rules  and  regulations  of  the  school  board  the  correspond- 
ing range  is  from  300  copies  for  cities  of  from  8,000  to  15,000 
population  up  to  2,700  for  cities  of  over  300,000.  The  median 
number  of  copies  in  the  latest  issues  of  school  directories  runs 
from  330  to  1050  and  in  the  case  of  courses  of  study  and  curric- 
ula from  433  to  5,000. 

On  the  basis  of  the  median  practice,  if  none  of  the  copies  of 
these  school  publications  was  distributed  among  the  teaching 
supervisory  or  administrative  staff  and  none  was  exchanged 
with  school  officials  in  other  cities,  less  than  30  per  cent  of  the 
families  residing  in  these  cities  might  have  a  copy  of  the  most 
frequently  used  school  publications. 

Table  X  shows  the  distribution  of  cities  according  to  the 
number  of  the  different  types  of  reports  issued  during  the  past 
five  years.  The  annual  report  and  school  directory  are  the  only 
two  kinds  of  school  publication  which  any  great  number  of  cities 
issue  regularly  and  even  in  the  case  of  the  annual  report  8  of  the 
159  cities  reporting  have  published  only  one  issue  within  the 
past  five  years,  8  only  two  issues,  5  three  issues,  and  5  four 
issues. 

Table  XI  supplements  the  information  given  in  Table  X  by 
showing  the  year  in  which  the  latest  issue  of  each  of  the  types 
of  school  publications  was  published.  Changing  the  information 
contained  in  this  table  into  percentages,  it  appears  that  the  fol- 
lowing per  cents  of  the  cities  reporting  have  published  each  of 
the  types  of  school  reports  listed  during  1919  and  the  first  four 
months  of  1920. 


56  SCHOOL  REPORTS  IN  AMERICAN   CITIES 


Kind  of  Report  Per    cent    of    242    cities    which    have    issued    each    type    of    report 

during   the  year  1919  and  up   to  May  1920 


Annual    52 

Biennial    3 

Triennial    1 

Monographs    6 

School    Manual    8 

School  Directory    37 

Manual  and  Directory   2 

Course   of   Study    19 

News   Bulletin    5 

icules   and   Regulations   of    School   Board  11 

Campaign    Bulletin    8 

Reports  in  Newspaper   (paid  for)    10 

Posters    8 

Newspaper  Display  Ads 6 


Table  XII  shows  the  distribution  of  the  different  kinds  of 
school  publications  according  to  the  audience  which  they  are  in- 
tended to  reach.  Annual,  biennial,  triennial  school  reports  and 
the  monographs  which  are  intended  either  to  supplement  or 
take  the  place  of  these  three,  are  intended  mainly  for  the  general 
public  and  the  professional  school  group :  that  is  to  say,  they  are 
intended  for  the  school  board,  principals,  teachers  and  super- 
visors and  the  general  public.  School  directories,  courses  of 
study  and  the  rules  and  regulations  of  the  school  board  are  in- 
tended mainly  for  the  professional  school  group,  that  is,  the  Board 
of  Education,  teachers,  supervisors  and  principals.  It  should,  how- 
ever be  noted  that  many  superintendents  also  intend  these  publica- 
tions for  the  general  public,  as  well  as  the  professional  school 
group.  Nineteen  superintendents  out  of  one  hundred  and  fifty 
reporting,  intend  their  .annual  school  reports  for  the  professional 
school  group.  This  number  of  annual  reports  constitutes  the 
group  which  is  intended  to  be  in  a  large  measure  for  adminis- 
trative purposes.  Seventeen  out  one  hundred  and  fifty  super- 
intendents reporting  intend  annual  school  reports  for  the  pro- 
fessional school  group  and  citizen  leaders  acting  evidently  on  the 
theory  that  there  is  a  certain  portion  of  the  general  public  which 
it  is  more  worth  while  to  reach  with  the  annual  report  than 
simply  to  aim  at  the  somewhat  undefined  general  public.  Of 
the  nineteen  cities  giving  information  on  the  classes  of  people 


TYPB;S  AND  COST  OF  SCHOOL  PUBLICATIONS  57 

for  which  the  news  bulletin  or  "house  organ"  type  of  school 
publication  are  intended,  twelve  indicate  that  they  are  for  the 
professional  group  and  general  public,  six  for  the  professional 
group  alone  and  one  for  the  professional  group  and  citizen  lea- 
ders. Campaign  bulletins,  newspaper  reports,  posters  and  news- 
paper display  advertisements  are  almost  unanimously  intended 
for  the  general  public. 

Of  the  superintendents  who  reported  on  the  audience  to  which 
the  different  types  of  school  reports  are  addressed,  fifty-three 
per  cent  intend  annual  reports  for  school  officials  in  other  cities 
as  well  as  for  the  local  audience.  Forty-three  per  cent  of  the 
biennial  and  triennial  reports,  thirty-three  per  cent  of  the  mono- 
graphs and  ten  per  cent  of  the  campaign  bulletins  are  published 
with  a  similar  purpose  in  mind. 

In  the  questionnaire  described  in  Appendix  B,  superintendents 
were  asked  to  rank  seven  types  of  school  reports  with  respect 
to  their  effectiveness  as  means  for  reaching  the  general  pub- 
lic. In  most  cases,  the  superintendent  simply  ranked  the 
reports  with  which  he  was  familiar  in  his  own  particular 
city.  It  is  therefore  impossible  to  make  a  comparative  ranking 
of  the  value  attached  to  the  different  classes  of  school  reports 
as  effective  means  for  reaching  the  general  public  on  the  basis 
of  the  opinions  expressed  by  the  city  superintendents  in  their 
replies.  The  ratings  given  by  the  superintendents  are  sum- 
marized in  Table  XIII.  Of  the  superintendents  in  cities  where 
annual  reports  are  published,  somewhat  over  fifty  per  cent,  be- 
lieve that  the  annual  report  is  the  most  effective  means  for 
reaching  the  public.  Only  one-sixth  of  the  superintendents 
ranking  biennial  reports  gave  them  first  place.  Of  fifteen  super- 
intendents ranking  school  monographs,  six,,  or  forty  per  cent, 
gave  them  first  place.  Twelve  out  of  seventeen,  or  seventy-one 
per  cent,  of  those  ranking  campaign  bulletins  believed  them 
to  be  the  most  effective  type  of  report  for  reaching  the  general 
public.  Thirty-nine  per  cent,  of  the  thirteen  superintendents 
rating  paid-for  newspaper  reports  rated  them  first  and  thirty  per 
cent  of  those  using  newspaper  display  advertisements  gave  them 
first  place. 


58  SCHOOL  REPORTS  IN  AMERICAN   CITIES 

From  the  numerous  statements  noted  on  the  replies  received 
to  the  questionniare  relative  to  the  value  of  free  newspaper  news 
and  feature  articles  for  presenting  school  facts  to  the  general 
public,  it  was  considered  desirable  to  secure  a  ranking  of  school 
publications  which  included  newspaper  news  and  feature  stories. 
Accordingly  111  city  superintendents,  assistant  superintendents 
and  state  department  of  education  officials,  and  other  active 
educational  administrators  taking  graduate  courses  in  education- 
al administration  at  Teachers'  College,  Columbia  University 
during  the  summer  session  of  1920,  were  asked  to  rate  16  types 
of  school  publications.  The  following  directions  were  given: 

Rate  the  following  types  of  school  publications  in  the  order  of  their  value  as 
effective  means  for  reaching  the  general  public.  Read  the  entire  list  before  you  make 
the  ratings.  Write  "1"  after  the  publication  which  you  consider  most  valuable  for 
reaching  the  public  and  "16"  after  the  one  you  consider  least  valuable.  If  you  desire, 
rate  these  which  fall  near  the  upper  and  lower  end  before  you  rate  those  falling  near 
the  middle. 

Kind  of  Publication  Rating 


Annual    Report    

Biennial    Report    

{Triennial    Report    

Monographs    

School   Manual    , 

School  Directory    

Course   of   Study    

Rulas  and  Regulations  of  the  School  Board   

News  Bulletin  of  the   "House  Organ"   Type    

Campaign    Bulletin    

Newspaper   Display   Advertisements    

Posters  and   Display   Cards   

Folders    

Mimeographed  or  multigraphed  circulars,   bulletins 

Free  Newspaper  News  and  Feature  Articles   

Slides  and   Motion   Pictures    


Of  the  110  school  administrators  ranking  the  types  of  reports 
listed,  106  furnished  complete  rankings,  which  are  summarized 
in  Table  XIV. 


TYPE;S  AND  COST  OF  SCHOOL  PUBLICATIONS  59 


TABLE   XIV. 

SUMMARY    OF    RANKS    ASSIGNED    TO    16    TYPES    OF    SCHOOL,    PUBLICATIONS    WITH     RESPECT    TO 
THEIR   EFFECTIVENESS    IN    REACHING    THE    GENERAL,   PUBLIC. 


Kind  of  Publication 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

Rating 
9       10 

11 

12 

13 

14 

15 

16  Total 

Annual  Report    

f, 
0 
0 
9 
0 
1 
1 

0 

12 
6 
7 
2 
0 

3 

57 

4 
0 
0 
6 
0 
0 
2 

0 

18 
8 
16 
91 
4 

8 
20 

3 

0 
0 
2 
0 

1 
2 

1 

13 
15 
13 
17 
6 

14 

11 

o 
2 
0 
3 
2 
0 
0 

0 

9 
18 
17 
15 
11 

9 
4 

9 
1 
2 
3 
1 
0 
3 

0 

10 
11 
17 
18 
8 

11 

5 

1 
6 
0 

5 
1 
1 
3 

0 

8 
16 
9 

8 
15 

16 
5 

4 
4 
5 
3 
2 
4 
4 

2 

12 
11 
7 
11 
19 

14 
0 

3 

4 
3 
8 
3 
3 
5 

2 

10 
11 
6 
6 
17 

11 
2 

10 
2 
6 
27 
6 
3 
7 

4 

6 
4 
5 
6 
10 

9 
0 

15 
4 
2 
13 
11 
12 
21 

7 

1 
3 
3 
3 

4 

1 

1 

12 
12 
3 
4 
14 
15 
11 

17 

2 

0 
2 
5 
4 

5 
0 

4 
14 
12 
8 
11 
14 
12 

11 

0 
2 
0 
3 
2 

2 

0 

is 

4 
16 
9 
19 
8 
15 

12 

3 
0 
1 
1 
2 

2 

0 

18 
16 
10 
2 
20 
18 
7 

10 

2 
1 
2 
1 
0 

0 

1 

4 
37 
11 
3 
9' 
12 
6 

18 

0 
0 
1 
0 

1 
0 
0 

3 
0 
36 
1 

7 
14 
7 

22 

0 
0 
0 
1 
3 

1 
0 

106 
106 
106 
106 
106 
106 
106 

106 

106 
106 
106 
106 
106 

108 

106 

Biennial     Report     
Triennial     Report     

School    Manual          

School    Directory     

Rules    and     Regulations    of 
the     School     Board     
News   Bulletin   of   the 
"House    Organ"    Type    .. 
Campaign    Bulletin    

Newspaper   Display    Ads.     . 
Posters    and    Display    Cards 
Folders  
Mimeographed  or  Multi- 
graphed  circulars,  bulletins 
Free  Newspaper  News  and 
Feature    Articles     

Slides   and   Motion    Pictures    8      13       11       17       11       15        5      10        4        4        03        2         1         1       1       106 
112     108     109     109    110     109    107    104     109     105     106    98    102     109     103    96    1606 

According  to  the  75  percentile  method  1  the  different  publi- 
cations rank  as  follows  with  respect  to  their  value  as  effective 
means  for  reaching  the  public: 

KIND  OF  PUBLICATION  Rating 

Free   Newspaper   News  and   Feature   Articles    __     3.2 

Newspaper    Display    Advertisements    7.1 

Campaign    Bulletin    7.5 

News  Bulletin  of  the  "House  Organ"  type 7.8 

Slides  and  Motirn  Pictures 7.9 

Posters  and  Disolay  Cards  7.96 

Mimeographed  or  Multigraphed  Circulars 8.36 

•      Folders    8.97 

Monographs    11.12 

Course  of  Study 13.57 

Annual    Report    13.81 

School    Manual    14.47 

School    Directory    14.97 

Biennial  Report  15.26 

Rules  and  Regulations  of  the  School  Board 15.75 

Triennial   Report   16.26 

1  The  75  percentile  is  the  point  above  which  75  per  cent   of  the  judges 
would  rate  the  report. 


60  SCHOOL  REPORTS  IN  AMERICAN   CITIES 

The  sixteen  means  of  putting  school  facts  before  the  public, 
it  will  be  noted,  fall  into  four  somewhat  distinct  groups.  News- 
paper news  and  feature  articles  are  very  decidedly  first.  The 
second  -group  comprises  newspaper  display  advertisements,  cam- 
paign bulletins,  news  bulletins  of  the  "house  organ"  type,  slides 
and  motion  pictures,  posters  and  display  cards,  mimeographed 
and  multigraphed  circulars  and  folders.  Monographs,  such  as 
those  shown  on  page  45,  constitute  group  three  and  periodic 
school  reports,  (annual,  biennial  and  triennial)  courses  of  study, 
school  manuals,  school  directories  and  rules  and  regulations  of 
the  school  board,  group  four. 

It  is  undoubtedly  true  that  the  amount  of  money  spent  on 
school  publications  is  not  in  every  case  an  accurate  index  of  the 
extent  to  which  the  public  is  effectively  reached.  This  is  true, 
not  only  on  account  of  the  fact  that  mere  size  and  costliness 
does  not  determine  the  publicity  value  of  a  report,  but  because 
in  many  cases  school  directories,  manuals,  courses  of  study 
and  bulletins  are  published  on  the  school  press.  In  certain 
New  England  towns  the  municipal  government  first  publishes 
the  school  report  as  part  of  the  general  city  reports  to  the 
public  and  superintendents  in  cities  where  this  practice  prevails, 
count  the  cost  of  the  publication  of  their  school  reports  as  only 
the  cost  of  a  reprint  of  the  material  that  has  already  been 
published  as  an  official  city  document.  In  most  of  the  cities 
reporting,  however,  the  amount  of  money  expended  for  school 
publications  may  be  taken  as  a  fair  index  of  the  seriousness  with 
which  a  well  planned  publicity  program  is  undertaken. 

Table  XV  shows  the  distribution  of  cities  according  to  the 
total  cost  of  all  the  last  issues  of  the  different  types  of  school 
reports  published  in  each  city  within  the  past  five  years.  For 
instance,  if  a  city  published  an  annual  report  in  November  1919 
at  a  cost  of  $200,  a  school  directory  in  October  1919  at  a  cost 
of  $60,  an  issue  of  a  course  of  study  in  history  in  1917  at  a  cost 
of  $120,  a  copy  of  the  rules  and  regulations  of  the  school  board  in 
1916  at  a  cost  of  $75,  the  total  cost  of  all  the  last  issues  would 
be  listed  as  $455. 


TYPES  AND  COST  OF  SCHOOL  PUBLICATIONS  61 

The  same  table  distributes  cities  according  to  population 
groups.  The  medians  for  the  different  sizes  of  cities  show  that 
the  total  expenditures  for  the  last  issues  of  all  the  types  of  re- 
ports published  run  as  follows: 

Group    1 — cities  from  8,000  to      15,000 $  136. 

Group   2 — cities  from  15,000  to     20,000 133. 

Group    3 — cities  from  20,000  to     30,000 217. 

Group   4 — cities  from  30,000  to      50,000 294. 

Group    5 — cities  from  50,000  to    100,000 500. 

Group    6 — cities  from  100,000  to    300,000 1050. 

Group  7 — cities  from  300,00,0  and  over 2000. 

In  Table  XVI  the  distribution  of  the  expense  for  the  last  issues 
of  all  reports  published  is  shown  by  sections  of  the  United 
States.  The  median  for  the  entire  country  is  $258.  It  is  $197 
for  the  New  England  states,  $269  for  the  Middle  Atlantic  and  in 
the  other  sections  of  the  United  States  too  few  cities  reported  to 
make  the  medians  have  any  special  validity.  The  emphatic 
point  about  these  cost  expenditures  is  the  fact  that  if  these  cities 
published  every  year  all  the  types  of  reports  which  they  have 
published  during  the  last  five  years,  the  median  cost  per  city 
would  be  only  $258. 

Chart  5  shows  the  relatively  small  costs  of  the  last  issues  of 
the  most  frequently  used  types  of  school  publications.  It  should 
be  remembered  in  connection  with  this  table  that  the  medians  in 
the  case  of  triennial  reports  and  manual  and  directory  combined 
are  taken  from  such  few  cases  that  the  addition  of  a  small  number 
of  cities  might  change  the  median  cost  to  a  marked  degree. 

A  distribution  of  cities  according  to  the  total  expenditures  for 
all  publications  issued  within  the  twelve  months  preceding  April- 
May,  1920,  is  shown  in  Table  XVII.  The  median  expenditure 
for  the  160  cities  reporting  is  $168.  For  cities  between  8,000 
and  15,000  population  it  is  $53  and  for  cities  of  300,000  and 
over  it  is  $2,000.  If  the  median  expenditures  for  school  publi- 
cations in  the  different  classes  of  cities  are  compared  with  the 
average  total  school  expenditures,1  it  will  be  found  that  less  than 

1The   computation  was   made   on   the   basis    of   figures    contained   in 
Financial  Statistics  of  Cities,   Bureau  of   Census,   1918. 


62 


SCHOOL  REPORTS  IN  AMERICAN   CITIES 


one-tenth  of  one  per  cent,  of  the  school  budget  is  devoted  to  pre- 
senting the  case  of  the  schools  to  the  public  through  official  school 
publications. 

CHART  NO.  5 

Showing  the  median  cost  of  last  issues  of  the  most  frequently  used  types  of  school 
publications. 


Triennial    Report     $600 


Manual    and    Directory 
(Combined) 


Campaign   Bulletin 


Annual   Report    192. 


Biennial    Report    166. 


,    Course  of   Study    120 


School   Manual    100, 


Monographs 


News   Bulletin    .     75. 


Rules    and    Regulations    72. 


School   Directory    61. 


In  addition  to  the  types  of  school  publications  which  were  re- 
ported by  city  superintendents  in  response  to  the  questionnaire 
previously  described,  there  are  four  other  important  means  of 
reporting  school  facts  which  deserve  consideration.  In  eight 
of  the  242  cities  listed  in  Appendix  C  the  Teachers'  Association 
or  some  official  organization  of  teachers,  .publishes  a  periodical 
or  bulletin.  Two  of  these  publications  were  started  in  the  years 
1912  and  1913,  and  the  other  six  since  1918. 


TYPKS  AND  COST  OF  SCHOOL  PUBLICATIONS  63 

In  the  illustration  shown  on  Page  44  the  contents  of  two  of 
these  publications  are  shown.  The  list  of  topics  discussed  in 
these  two  publications  are  typical  of  all  that  were  examined.  A 
part  of  the  content  consists  of  announcements  of  the  Board  of 
Education  and  the  city  superintendent,  together  with  such  news 
notes  and  articles  as  would  be  of  special  interest  to  teachers. 
Most  of  the  later  issues  of  these  teachers'  publications  have 
dealt  extensively  with  the  necessity  for  raising  the  salaries 
of  teachers.  In  this  connection,  they  have  contained  lengthy 
articles  on  the  general  increase  in  the  cost  of  living  and  the 
discrepancy  between  salaries  paid  to  teachers  and  the  actual  cost 
of  living. 

The  second  type  consists  of  mimeographed  or  multigraphed 
circulars,  bulletins  and  booklets.  Many  superintendents  of 
schools,  where  the  annual  report  is  not  printed,  mimeograph  a 
sufficient  number  of  copies  of  the  report  for  each  member  of  the 
board  of  education,  and  in  some  cases  for  the  newspapers  of 
the  city.  Frequently,  the  superintendent's  monthly  report  takes 
the  form  of  a  mimeographed  document  which  often  goes  to 
persons  other  than  members  of  the  board  of  education.  There 
are  numerous  samples  of  quarterly  and  annual  reports  duplicated 
in  the  manner  mentioned  above,  which  have  been  given  a  circula- 
tion almost  as  large  as  that  of 'many  of  the  printed  reports.  The 
results  of  standard  tests,  descriptions  of  experiments  and 
method  of  teaching,  courses  of  study,  rules  and  regulations  of 
the  school  board,  directories  of  school  officials  and  teachers 
and  circular  letters  to  parents,  are  among  the  types  of  reports 
issued  in  this  manner. 

A  third  type,  of  reporting  school  facts  which  was  not  listed 
in  the  tables  contained  in  this  chapter,  is  perhaps  one  of  the 
most  important  of  the  means  which  a  superintendents  may  use  to 
present  school  facts  to  the  public  in  such  a  way  as  to  secure 
additional  support  for  education.  This  is  the  publication  of  facts 
about  the  school  in  the  daily  press.  The  following  quotations 
from  notes  and  letters  from  city  superintendents  in  connection 
with  the  questionnaire  previously  described,  indicate  the  use 
which  many  city  superintendents  are  making  of  the  daily  news- 
papers : 


64  SCHOOL  REPORTS  IN  AMERICAN   CITIKS 

"Our  two  daily  newspapers  are  so  generous  with  their  space  for 
school  news  and  have  such  a  general  circulation  in  our  little  city  that 
we  have  printed  none  of  our  annual  reports  and  very  few  other  papers 
for  the  general  public.  They  will  publish  the  annual  report  for  us 
even  tho  it  takes  several  installments  to  cover  it,  and  we  do  not  have 
to  pay  for  any  space  except  that  used  for  soliciting  bids,  advertising 
elections,  etc." 

(From  a  city  Supt.  in  Oregon.) 

"For   our   small    compact   community    (16,000)    we    find    newspapers 
best.    We  get  free  space  wrhen  we  want  it." 
(From  a  city  Supt.  in  Arkansas.) 

"The  local  paper  publishes  the  annual  report  which  it  carries  in  its 
regular  issue." 

(From  a  city  Supt.  in  a  California  town  of  10,000  population) 

"Frequent   reports   are  made   in   newspapers." 

(From  a  Connecticut  Superintendent  in  a  city  of  20,000.  He  rates 
such  reports  above  all  others  as  an  effective  means  for  reaching  the 
public.) 

"We  reach  our  citizens  best  through  the  local  papers  from  day  to 
day." 

(From  a  Superintendent  in  an  Illinois  city  of  about  40,000  popula- 
tion.) 

"Attempts  at  general  publicity  have  been  confined  to  news  items  in 
the  daily  press." 

(From  a  city  Superintendent  in  an  Indiana  town  of  about  25,000 
population.  He  rates  unpaid  newspaper  news  articles  as  the  most  ef- 
fective means  for  reaching  the  general  public.) 

"Newspaper  cooperation,  most  effective  means  of  reaching  the  pub- 
lic. We  get  ample  space  free  in  the  local  papers." 

(From  a  city  Superintendent  in  an  Iowa  town  of  about  25,000  pop- 
ulation.) 

"The  superintendent's  monthly  report  (not  statistical)  is  published 
by  four  daily  papers  as  news." 

(From  a  Superintendent  in  a  Massachusetts  city  of  20,000  population. 
He  rates  these  reports  as  published  in  the  newspapers  as  a  more  ef- 
fective means  of  reaching  the  general  public  than  the  annual  school 
report.) 


TYPE;S  AND  COST  OF  SCHOOL  PUBLICATIONS  65 

"This  year  we  shall  discontinue  distribution  of  the  annual  report  to 
the  general  public.  We  shall  substitute  the  press  ami  campaign  bul- 
letins." 

(From  a  Massachusetts  superintendent  in  a  city  of  35,000  popula- 
tion.) 

"The  daily  press  is  always  glad  to  carry  school  news.  Both  daily 
papers  printed  without  charge  about  fifty  articles  for  use  in  civics 
classes.  One  paper  very  frequently  has  signed  articles  in  the  Sunday 
edition  featuring  some  phase  of  school  work." 

("From  a  city  Superintendent  in  Nebraska.) 

"Each  month  the  superintendent  makes  a  report  to  the  board  and 
public  which  is  published  in  two  papers." 

(From  a  city  superintendent  in  New  Jersey.  He  ranks  these  re- 
ports as  printed  in  the  newspapers  as  a  more  effective  means  of  reach- 
ing the  public  than  the  annual  report.) 

"Local  newspapers  report  carefully  all  school  meetings  and  give 
ample  space  in  news  columns." 

(From  a  New  Jersey  superintendent  in  a  city  of  125,000  population. 
He  rates  "Newspaper  stories"  as  the  most  effective  sort  of  school  re- 
porting.) ^ 

"We  have  abundant  newspaper  space  for  school  reports  and  have 
used  it  instead  of  formal  school  publications." 

(From  a  superintendent  in  a  New  York  city  of  12,000  population.) 

"Two  daily  newspapers  and  one  weekly  give  a  lot  of  school  news. 
We  issue  no  pamphlets,  but  a  report  read  at  the  May  school  district 
meeting  is  published  in  the  papers  as  is  also  the  financial  report." 

(From  a  superintendent  in  a  New  York  city  of  15,000  population.) 

"The  superintendent's  annual  report  is  published  in  full  in  the  news- 
papers." 

(From  a  superintendent  in  a  New  York  city  of  80,000  population.) 

"Free  newspaper  news  items  are  our  best  advertising  aside  from  cam- 
paign bulletins." 

(From  a  Pennsylvania  superintendent  in  a  city  of  over  60,000  popula- 
tion.) i 

"Ten  typewritten  monthly  reports  sent  to  newspapers  for  publica- 
tion." 


66  SCHOOL  REPORTS  IN  AMERICAN   CITIES 

(From  the  superintendent  of  a  Rhode  Island  city  of  30,000.  He  rates 
these  published  monthly  reports  as  the  most  effective  means  of  reach- 
ing the  public.) 

"The  daily  press  is  the  best  means  of  reaching  the  public  and  always 
helped  us  more  than  any  other  agency." 
(From  a  City  Superintendent  in  Virginia.) 

Newspapers  in  all  sections  of  the  United  States  have,  during 
the  past  year,  shown  a  remarkable  recognition  of  the  news  value 
of  facts  about  schools  and  education.  The  following  quotation 
from  an  editorial  in  the  New  York  Evening  Post *  indicates 
an  attitude  which  may  be  said  to  be  general  among  the  better 
newspapers  of  the  country : 

r'The  Evening  Post  begins  today  the  publication  of  an  educational 
.page  which  is  to  be  henceforth  a  regular  feature  of  our  Saturday  edition. 
It  is  the  response  to  a  notable  growth  in  popular  concern  with  the 
problems  of  public  education  as  one  of  the  great  factors  in  our  ex- 
panding national  life." 

Ill  Oakland,  California,  during  the  school  year  1917-18, 2 
a  Publicity  Committee  was  appointed,  consisting  of  the  Secretary 
to  the  Superintendent  of  Schools,  Secretary  and  Business  Man- 
ager of  the  Board  of  Education,  the  Assistant  Director  of  Play- 
grounds, Director  of  the  Department  of  Research,  Principal 
of  the  Evening  Continuation  School,  one  Elementary  School 
Principal,  Director  of  Public  Lectures  and  a  High  School  Teach- 
er of  Journalism. 

This  large  committee,  for  the  work  it  did  during  the  year  in 
which  it  was  organized,  was  divided  into  the  following  six  sub- 
committees : 

1.  Special  Page  Publicity. 

2.  Editorial    Staff    for    the    School    Publicity    Sheet,    "Our    Public 
Schools." 

3.  High  School  Publicity. 

4.  Files  and  Records. 

5.  Board  of  Education  and  Finance. 

6.  Special  Features  and  Advertising. 

1  New  York  Evening  Post,  May  29,  1920. 

2  Annual  Report  of  the  Superintendent  of  Public  Schools  of  Oakland, 
California,  1917-18. 


TYPJ;S  AND  COST  OF  SCHOOL,  PUBLICATIONS  67 

The  principal  part  of  the  work  of  these  committees  was  to 
provide  for  cooperation  between  the  newspapers  of  the  city  and 
the  public  school  system  of  Oakland  to  the  end  that  the  news 
about  the  schools  might  be  presented  to  all  the  people. 

The  following  were  the  chief  means  utilized : 

1.  A  feature  page  in  a  Sunday  edition  of  one  of  the  newspapers  of 
the  city. 

2.  The  collection  of  news  itehis  from  different  schools  and  the  prep- 
aration of  these  news  items  for  the  daily  press. 

3.  The  collection  and  filing  of  pictures  and  records  which  would  be 
of   value   in   connection   with   school   publicity    either    in   the   daily 
press  or  in  the  official  news  bulletin  of  the  schools. 

4        Special  feature  writers  were  furnished  information   from  which 
they  *vould  write  articles  about  the  schools. 

Motion  pictures  and  slides  are  coming  to  be  recognized  as 
effective  means  of  reporting  school  facts  to  the  public.  In  a 
school  building  campaign  carried  on  in  St.  Paul,  Minnesota  in 
1917,  tables  and  graphs  showing  the  school  building  situation 
and  the  ability  of  the  city  to  finance  a  $3,000,000  bond  issue 
were  shown  in  the  moving  picture  theatres.  In  Sacramento, 
California,  a  series  of  brief  arguments  for  a  $3,000,000  bond 
issue  for  school  buildings  was  made  into  a  series  of  lantern  slides 
and  shown  in  the  different  theatres.  In  Oakland,  California, 
about  $500  was  invested  in  two  short  sketches  to  be  used  in  the 
moving  picture  theatres  to  assist  in  carrying  a  $4,975,000  bond 
issue  for  school  buildings. 

In  the  city  of  Duluth,  moving  picture  films  were  made  showing 
the  various  special  activities  of  the  city  school  system  and 
illustrations  of  modern  methods  of  teaching.  The  films  were 
run  for  a  week  in  a  leading  theatre  in  the  city  and  unquestion- 
ably made  many  people  acquainted  with  the  work  of  the  schools, 
who  could  not  have  been  reached  by  the  most  skillfully  arranged 
printed  school  report. 


68  SCHOOL  REPORTS  IN  AMERICAN   CITIES 


SUMMARY 

1.  The  chief  media  through  which  school  facts  are  presented 
to  the  public  in  American  cities  are: 

1  Annual  reports. 

2  Biennial  reports. 

3  Triennial   reports. 

4  Monographs. 

5  School  Manuals. 

6  School  directories. 

7  Courses  of  study. 

8  Rules  and  regulations  of  the  school  board. 

9  News  bulletin  of  the  "house  organ"  type. 

10  Campaign  bulletins. 

11  Reports  in  newspapers  (paid  for  space). 

12  Newspaper   display  advertisements. 

13  Posters  and  display  cards. 

14  Folders. 

15  Surveys. 

16  Advance  prints  and  reprints  from  the  annual  report. 

17  News  bulletins  published  by  the  teachers. 

18  Mimeographed    or    multigraphed    circulars,    bulletins    and 
booklets. 

19  Free  newspaper  news  and  feature  articles. 

20  Slides  and  motion  pictures. 

2.  From  the  small  percentage  of  cities  which  publish  the  first 
seventeen  types  of  school  reports  listed  in  paragraph  one  of  this 
summary  and  the  small  number  of  copies  per  issue,  it  seems 
reasonable  to  conclude  that  in  actual  practice  American  cities 
in  general  are  not  utilizing  any  system  of  school  reports  which 
reaches  a  large  portion  of  the  population. 

3.  The  expenditures  for  school  publications  are  so  small  in 
most  cities  as  to  warrant  the  conclusion  that  a  serious  definite 
policy  of  making  the  public  acquainted  with  school  facts  does 
not  now  exist  as  a  general  practice  in  the  cities  of  the  United 
States. 


CHAPTER  III. 

ANNUAL,  BIENNIAL  AND  TRIENNIAL  SCHOOL  REPORTS 

In  Chapter  II,  it  was  shown  that  annual,  biennial  and 
triennial  reports  constitute  the  most  frequent  type  of  school 
publications  and  that  these  reports  are  intended  mainly  for  the 
general  public.  It  is  the  aim  of  this  chapter : 

1.  To  show  how  the  different  sections  of  the  United  States  com- 
pare in  the  frequency  with  which  cities  issue  these  reports. 

2.  To  examine  the  purposes  which  city  superintendents  have 
in  mind  in  presenting  them  to  the  public. 

3.  To  indicate  the  authorship  of  the  reports  in  so  far  as  it  may 
be  determined  from  an  examination  of  the  reports  them- 
selves. 

4.  To  analyze  the  content  and  general  character  of  more  than 
a  hundred  reports  to  determine  the  extent  to  which  they  may 
be  looked  on  as  effective  means  for  securing  increased  sup- 
port for  education. 

5.  To  preserit  facts  bearing  on  the  extent  of  the  circulation  of 
annual  reports. 

6.  To  illustrate  some  recent  tendencies  with  respect  to  the  use 
of  substitute  types  of  publications. 

7.  To  state  the  conclusions  which  seem  to  be  warranted  by  the 
evidence  presented. 

It  was  shown  in  Chapter  I  that  the  custom  of  publishing 
annual  reports  was  in  a  large  measure  a  New  England  develop- 
ment, and  that  in  this  section  of  the  country  it  became  the  general 
practice  of  cities  to  issue  annual  school  reports  during  the 
second  quarter  of  the  nineteenth  century.  The  results  of  the 
investigation  described  in  Chapter  II  show  that  New  England 
cities  at  the  present  time  lead  all  other  sections  of  the  United 
States  in  the  regularity  with  which  annual  reports  are  published. 

Table  XVIII  shows  the  relative  rank  of  sections  of  the  United 
States  in  the  percentage  of  cities  which  publish  annual  reports  and 

(69) 


70  SCHOOL  REPORTS  IN  AMERICAN   CITIES 

in  the  percentage  which  publish  either  annual,  biennial,  triennial 
or  monograph  reports.  New  England  has  a  100  per  cent  record, 
whereas  only  66  per  cent  of  the  total  number  of  cities  reporting 
publish  annual  reports  and  only  77  per  cent  of  all  the  cities  report- 
ing publish  either  annual,  biennial,  triennial  or  monograph  reports, 
It  is  recognized  that  the  fallacy  of  selection  is  likely  to  appear 
in  any  questionnaire  where  furnishing  the  information  is  a  purely 
voluntary  matter.  Table  XVIII  should  be  considered  in  connection 
with  the  percentage  of  cities,  from  each  section,  replying  to  the 
questionnaire.1  If  this  is  done,  the  lead  of  the  New  England 
states  in  the  publication  of  the  periodic  reports  becomes  all  the 
more  pronounced,  while  the  fact  that  only  27  per  cent  of  the 
cities  from  Section  5  (the  South  .Atlantic  states  of  Delaware, 
District  of  Columbia,  Florida,  Georgia,  Maryland,  North  Caro- 
lina, South  Carolina,  Virginia  and  West  Virginia)  replied  to  the 
questionnaire,  would,  in  all  probability,  put  that  section  much 
further  down  the  list,  certainly  below  Section  2  (the  states  of 
New  York,  New  Jersey  and  Pennsylvania). 

1  It    is    shown    on    page    29  that  the  following  percentages   from   each 
section  replied  to  the  questionnaire: 

Section  1 — New  England 66% 

Section  4— West  North  Central 46% 

Section  2 — Middle  Atlantic 45% 

Section  7 — West  South  Central 41% 

Section  3 — East  North   Central   38% 

Section  6 — East  South  Central 31% 

Section   9— Pacific   Coast  28% 

Section  5 — South  Atlantic 27% 

Section  8 — Mountain 21% 


ANNUAL,  BIENNIAL  AND  TRIENNIAL  REPORTS  71 


TABLE  XVIIJ. 

SHOWING    THE    RELATIVE    RANK    OF    SECTIONS1    OF    THE    UNITEiD    STATES    IN 
THE    PERCENTAGE   OF   CITIES   WHICH   PUBLISH   ANNUAL   REPORTS   AND 
IN    THE    PERCENTAGE    WHICH    PUBLISH    EITHER    ANNUAL,    BI- 
ENNIAL,   TRIENNIAL,    OR    MONOGRAPH    REPORTS. 


I     |P»fi 

=     =-•§.€  a 


~ 

Number 
report 

P 

•*§! 
1  §  I 

c  a  ja 
*  a  — 
w  a>  a 

Section 

1 

71 

71 

100 

71 

100 

Section 

13 

10 

77 

11 

85 

Entire  ( 

242 

159 

66 

187 

77 

Section 

2 

54 

33 

61 

42 

78 

Section 

9 

g 

5 

56 

7 

78 

Section 

19 

6 

50 

67 

Section 

4     

23 

11 

48 

16 

70 

Section 

3     

46 

20 

42 

27 

59 

Section 

6     

9 

3 

33 

4 

44 

Section 

s      

5 

1 

20 

1 

20 

iSection  1 — New    England    states  Section  4— West    North   Central   states 

Section  5— South   Atlantic   states  Section  3 — East   North   Central   states 

Section  2— Middle  Atlantic   states  Section  6 — East   South   Central   states 

Section  9 — Pacific    Coast    states  Section  S— Mountain    states 

Section  7 — West  South  Central  states 

Chart  No.  6  is  a  graphic  representation  of  the  relative  rank 
of  the  different  sections  of  the  United  States  in  the  percentage 
of  cities  publishing  annual  school  reports. 


72 


SCHOOL  REPORTS   IN  AMERICAN   CITIES 


CHART   NO.    6 

This   Chart   indicates    the    relative    rank    of   different   sections   of   the    United    States    in    the    percentage    of 
cities   publishing   annual    school   reports. 

Percent  of 
cities  pub- 
lishing an- 
nual school 
report 


Section    1. 


Section    5.     . 


100 


Entire    Country 


Section    2 01 


Section     9 56 


Section    7.     . 


Section    4 48 


Section  3.    .  .42 


Section  6 33 


Section    8. 


Sec.  1— New   England 

Sec.  5 — South    Atlantic 

Sec.  2— Middle    Atlantic 

Sec.  9 — Pacific   Coast 

Sec.  7 — West  South  Central 

Sec.  4 — West    North   Central 

Sec.  3— East   North   Central 

Sec.  6 — East   South    Central 

Sec.  8 — Mountain 


ANNUAL,  BIENNIAL  AND  TRIENNIAL  REPORTS  73 

In  studying  the  aims,  authorship  and  content  of  school  reports, 
103  annual,  biennial  and  triennial  publications  were  selected  so 
as  to  have  every  section  of  the  United  States,  and  different  sized 
cities,  represented.  The  latest  available  reports  were  used.  A 
letter  was  sent  by  the  Librarian  of  Teachers  College,  Columbia 
University,  to  Superintendents  of  schools  in  cities  of  8,000 
population  and  over,  asking  for  the  latest  published  reports. 
The  reports  examined  were  distributed  by  states  as  follows: 

Alabama    1  Michigan    3 

Arizona    0  Minnesota 0 

Arkansas    0  Mississippi    0 

California   3  Missouri    3 

Colorado    2  Montana     0 

Connecticut    11  Nebraska    0 

Delaware    0  Nevada    0 

Florida    0  New    Hampshire    4 

Georgia     1  New  Jersey 6 

Idaho      0  New   Mexico 0 

Illinois    4  New  York 8 

Indiana    0  North    Carolina    2 

Iowa    1  North  Dakota 1 

Kansas    2  Ohio     4 

Kentucky    4  Oklahoma    0 

Louisiana    0  Oregon    1 

Maine    3  Pennsylvania    9 

Maryland    1  Rhode    Island    5 

Massachusetts    17  South  Carolina 0 

The  sizes  of  cities  issuing  the  reports  examined  were  as 
follows : 

From       8,000  to     15,000 9  cities 

From     15,000  to     20,000 6  cities 

From     20,000  to     30,000 9  cities 

From     30,000  to     50,000 27  cities 

From     50,000  to  100,000 27  cities 

From  100,000  to  300,000 17  cities 

From  300,000  and  over 8  cities 

Forty  of  these  reports  were  from  the  New  England  states,  23 
from  the  Middle  Atlantic,  13  from  East  North  Central,  7  from 
the  West  North  Central,  4  from  the  South  Atlantic,  6  from  the 


74  SCHOOL  REPORTS  IN  AMERICAN   CITIES 

East  South  Central,  2  from  the  West  South  Central,  3  from  the 
Mountain  States  and  5  from  the  Pacific  Coast  states. 

One  of  the  striking  facts  which  a  study  of  these  103  reports 
discloses,  is  the  wide  variety  of  purposes  which  seem  to  actuate 
the  writers.  Below  are  listed  40  aims  which,  according  to  state- 
ments made  by  superintendents  in  the  reports,  were  before  them 
in  presenting  the  material.  The  figure  in  parenthesis  after 
each  statement  of  aim  indicates  the  number  of  times  it  appeared 
in  all  the  reports  examined. 

1.  To  give  an  account  of  the  past  year's  work   (13). 

2.  To  comply  with  state  regulations   (8). 

3.  To  show  school  conditions  as  they  exist  (7). 

4.  To  indicate  the  lines  of  future  progress   (6). 

5.  To  present  material  to  make  possible  a  comparison  of  local  edu- 
cation achievement  and  effort  with  that  of  other  communities   (4). 

6.  To  show  the  results  obtained  in  the  schools  (4). 

7.  To  show  comparisons  with  former  years   (3). 

8.  To  point  out  weaknesses  in  the  school  system  (2). 

9.  To  follow  established  custom  (2). 

10.  To  secure  citizen  cooperation   (2). 

11.  To  comment  briefly  on  some  of  the  more  important   features   of 
the  year's  work   (2). 

12.  To  interest  patrons  in  the  work  of  the  schools  (2). 

13.  To  show  how  the  needs  of  the  future  may  be  met  (1). 

14.  To  present  statistical  material  for  the  sake  of  record  (1). 

15.  To  present  the  urgent  need  for  better  school  accommodations  (1). 

16.  To  show  the  necessity  for  the  selection  and  retention  of  superior 
teachers  by  paying  liberal  salaries  (1). 

17.  To  publish  school  events  for  the  sake  of  record  (1). 

18.  To  deal  with  the  problem  of  school  accommodations   (1). 

19.  To  deal  with  the  problem  of  the  teaching  force  (1). 

20.  To  discuss  new  features  of  school  work  (1). 

21.  To   make    the    school    committees    and    others    think    seriously    of 
school  problems  (1). 

22.  To  review  the  whole  school  problem  in  its  larger  phases  (1). 

23.  To  state  the  general  school  policy  (1). 

24.  To  give   the   board   of   education   and   the   patrons   a   fair    idea   of 
what  is  being  done  for  education  in  the  city  (1). 

25.  To  give  useful  and  interesting  information  about  the  schools  (l). 

26.  To  guide  the  community  in  intelligent  thinking  on  school  affairs  (1). 

27.  To  set  up  standards  by  which  the  public  may  judge  the  efficiency 
of  the  schools  (1). 


ANNUAL,  BIENNIAL  AND  TRIENNIAL  REPORTS  75 

28.  To  stimulate  the  professional  spirit  of  the  teaching  staff  (1). 

29.  To    aid    scientific   investigation    and    experimentation    among    edu- 
cators generally  (3). 

30.  To  comply  with  the  rules  and  regulations. of  the  school  board  (1). 

31.  To  plan  new  business  for  the  next  year  (l). 

32.  To  describe  the  progress  of  the  schools   (1). 

33.  To  mention  briefly  for  the  sake  of  record  the  principal  new '(policies, 
plans  and  activities  of  the  year   (1). 

34.  To  present  facts  about  the  schools  graphically  (1). 

35.  To  interpret  school  facts  for  the  public  (1). 

36.  To   furnish   a   handbook   of   ready   reference   for   patrons    and   the 
school  staff  (1). 

37.  To  record  the  needs  of  the  schools  (1). 

38.  To  present  a  few  salient  topics  briefly  and  generally   (1). 

39.  To  serve  as  the  chief  means  of  communication  between  authorized 
school  officials  and  the  public  (1). 

40.  To  improve  the  schools  (1). 

It  is  impossible  to  determine  exactly  the  authorship  of  many 
annual,  biennial  and  triennial  school  reports  because  of  the  fact 
that  there  is  nothing  to  indicate  who  is  responsible  for  a  large 
part  of  the  content.  By  an  actual  page-to-page  count  of  the  con- 
tents of  one  hundred  and  three  annual  reports)  it  was  found  that 
it  was  impossible  to  determine  the  authorship  of  40  per  cent  of  the 
material.  Of  the  remaining  60  per  cent,  the  superintendent 
was  responsible  for  20  per  cent ;  the  school  board,  either  through 
the  President,  the  School  Board  Committee,  or  the  Secretary, 
for  8  per  cent;  supervisors,  7  per  cent;  principals,  6  per  cent; 
auditors  and  treasurers,  3  per  cent ;  attendance  officers,  2  per  cent ; 
directors  of  departments  or  special  activities,  1.5  per  cent;  com- 
mittees, 1.5  per  cent;  business  manager,  1.5  per  cent;  Bureau  of 
Research,  1.5  per  cent  and  some  sixty  other  school  officials  or 
combinations  of  school  officials  for  the  remaining  8  per  cent. 
These  facts  are  shown  graphically  in  Chart  7. 


76  SCHOOL  REPORTS  IN  AMERICAN   CITIES 

CHART  NO.  ^ 

Showing  the  authorship  of  annual,  biennial  and  triennial  school  reports,  in  so  far 
as  it  can  be  determined  from  the  reports  themselve.s.  The  figures  at  the  left  of  the 
bars  indicate  per  cent  of  the  total  number  of  pages  in  103  reports  having  the  indicated 
authorship. 


Authorship    not    Indicated     40. 

Superintendent   of    Schools    20. 

School     Board     (Committee     or     Officer)  8. 

Supervisors    ,                        .  7. 


Principals 


Auditors   and   Treasurers    3. 

Attendance    Officer    or    Dept 2. 

Directors    (of   Depts.    or   Activities)    ...  1.5 

Committees      1.5 

Business    Manager    1.5 

Bureau   of   Research    1.5 

Miscellaneous    .  .  8. 


I 

I 

I 
I 
I 
I 


The  content  of  the  103  city  school  reports  1  previously  de- 
scribed was  distributed  according  to  the  subjects  listed  in  Table 
XIX.  When  the  total  number  of  pages  in  all  these  reports  de- 
voted to  each  of  the  subjects  was  determined,  it  was  found  that 
75  per  cent  of  the  content  could  be  classified  under  the  following 

-1  For  a  list  of  these  reports,   see  bibliography,   pages   132-137. 


ANNUAL,  BIENNIAL  AND  TRIENNIAL  REPORTS  77 

twenty  classifications  to  which  1  per  cent  or  more,  of  the  total 
space  was  devoted: 


Per      Cent      of      total 

Subject  pages    In     103    reports 

devoted      to      subject. 

Budget,    Finance,    Indebtedness   and    Insurance    10 

Directories 9 

Superintendent's   General   Statement    9 

Census.    Enrollment,    Attendance    and    Nativity    1 

Pupil   Classification   and   Progress    

Supervisors'    Reports    (general    in    nature)     5 

Commencement    Programs    and    Class   Rolls    3 

School    Costs    3 

Building  and   Building   Programs 2 

Course   of   Study    2 

Health    of   Pupils 2 

Measurement  of  Class  Room  Achievement 2 

Pictures  of  School  Activities 2 

High    School    Principals'    Reports    2 

School  Program    2 

Teachers'    Salaries,    Annuities   and   Insurance    2 

Textbooks    2 

War    Work    2 

Reports   of   Grade    Principals    1 

Evening   Schools    . . . . 1 

Per  Cent  of  total   pages  in  103  reports  devoted   to  twenty   subjects  listed  75 

Table  XIX  distributes  the  content  of  the  103  school  reports 
according  to  the  number  containing  given  ranges  of  pages  on 
each  subject. 

Chart  8  shows  the  subjects  which  found  a  place  in  50  per  cent 
or  more  of  the  103  reports  and  indicates  the  comparative  fre- 
quency with  which  the  twelve  leading  divisions  of  subject-matter 
tend  to  appear. 

Table  XX  shows  the  distribution  of  reports  according  to 
the  per  cent  of  the  total  number  of  pages  in  each  report  devoted 
to  70  subjects. 


TABLE   XIX. 

SHOWING   THE    DISTRIBUTION    OF    SUBJECT    MATTER    IN    103    ANNUAL,    B'lENNIAL    AND   TRIENNIAL 
SCHOOL   REPORTS   BY   NUMBER  OP  PAGES   DEVOTED   TO   EACH   SUBJECT. 

Column    Number: 1         2       3       4       5       6     7     8     9  10  11  12  13 

Number  of  Pages  Devoted  to  Each  of  the  Subjects  Listed 


Subject 


-•-.-<-:. 


.*  "  2  « 

^ 

1 

CJ   m 

*-J     £_           •—  : 

o 

en 

o 

— 

^    01    £4    -^  m 

1  —  'Americanization    

12.6 

90 

7 

3 

1 

1 

1 

2  —  Buildings     &     Building     Programs     

47  .  6 

B4 

•><> 

8 

:; 

1      "2 

0 

3—  Budget,    Finance,    Indebtedness,    Insurance    

90.3 

10 

SO 

•>o 

7 

12 

6     3 

12363 

4  —  Census,     Enrollment,     Attendance,     Nativity     

92.2 

8 

?I3 

25 

18 

13 

3     3 

31231 

f  —  Glasses    &    Schools    for    AtVprcal    

2S.2 

74 

18 

8 

1 

6  —  Commencement    Programs,    Class    Rolls     , 

53.4 

48 

18 

W 

3 

$ 

-     1 

1      .... 

7  —  Continuation    Schools     

12.6 

90 

10 

1 

1 

.     1     ... 

8—  'Courses    of    Studv1     

24.3 

78 

14 

6 

1 

.     1 

.      .      .     1     2 

9  —  Directory    School    Officers,    Teachers    

94  .  2 

6 

26 

20 

16 

12 

9     3 

144.2 

10  —  Equipment   

10.7 

92 

<> 

1 

1 

11  —  Evening     Schools     

r.o.r, 

51 

S6 

18 

2 

1      ... 

12  —  Extra     Curricular     Activities      

13.6 

89 

11 

3 

1?  —  Floor     Plans,     Front     Elevations     

4.9 

98 

1 

0 

<> 

14—  Health    of    Pupils    

62  1 

39 

36 

16 

9 

0 

1 

15—  Index    

33.0 

69 

?2 

5 

4 

1 

1     . 

1     .... 

16  —  In    Memoriam     

31.1 

71 

^7 

n 

17  —  Instruction,    Methods    of    Teaching    

4.9 

98' 

1 

?, 

.      .      .     2     . 

18  —  Intelligence    Tests     

5.8 

97 

2 

1 

1     .... 

19  —  Janitors,     Custodians,     Engineers     

29.1 

73 

2f> 

4 

20  —  Junior    High    School     

16  5 

86 

10 

4 

3 

21  —  Laws   &   Administrative    Rules    

18.4 

84 

7 

6 

'  1 

.      .212 

22  —  Library    

19.4 

83 

16 

4 

23—  Measurement   of   Class    Room    Achievement    

19.4 

86 

4 

6 

3 

a 

1     . 

1.111 

24  —  Normal    School,    Practice   Teaching    

.     9  7 

93 

6 

1 

2 

1 

25  —  Parochial    &    Private    Schools     

4.0 

98' 

3 

1 

1 

26  —  Pictures    of    School    Buildings     

37.9 

64 

19 

7 

7 

4 

1     . 

.      .      .     1     . 

27  —  Pictures    of    School    Work     

34.0 

68 

11 

12 

4 

2 

3     . 

.      .      .      3      . 

28  —  Population    and    Growth    of    City     

15.5 

87 

14 

1 

1      .... 

29  —  Pupil     Classification     and     Progress     

81.6 

10 

30 

20 

9 

0 

5     2 

32.52 

30—  Pupil's    Marks    

1.9 

101 

1 

1 

31  —  Supt's   Summarv   &   Statement  of   Aim    

96.1 

4 

18 

23 

15 

13 

10     4 

3643. 

.-'.2—  Report    of    District    Prin.    (General)     

11.7 

91 

3 

3 

2 

1111. 

i>3  —  Report   of   High    School    Prin.    (General)     

4">  .  6 

56 

20 

13 

(> 

3 

4     1 

34  —  School     Calendar     

.   36  9 

65 

?7 

1 

'65  —  School     Costs     

59.2 

42 

29 

22 

2 

2 

11.22 

36—  School     Grounds     

7.8 

95 

7 

1 

37  —  School    Program     

17.5 

85 

10 

8 

1 

1      . 

...     1     2 

38  —  School   Savings  Banks,    Thrift,   Aid   Funds    

14.6 

88 

12 

2 

.      1 

39  —  Supervisors'     Reports     (General)     

55.3 

46 

5 

12 

12 

11 

3     5 

3213. 

40  —  Statement   from   School   Board    (Pres     Secy.)    

52.4 

49 

34 

13 

3 

1 

.     2 

1      .... 

41  —  Table  of  Contents    

28  2 

74 

Oli 

3 

1 

Teachers 

42  —  Distribution    &    Number    of     

37.9 

64 

33 

3 

0 

1 

16  5 

86 

15 

1 

1 

44  —  Preparation    ... 

12  6 

90 

11 

2 

45  —  Resignations     Appointments      Leaves 

29  1 

73 

26 

4 

46  —  Salaries      Annuities      Insurance 

50  5 

51 

29 

16 

5 

1 

1 

47  —  Tenure   and   Promotion  of    

7.8 

95 

8 

48  —  Textbooks    .    .    .    

27.2 

75 

14 

7 

1 

2 

1     2 

.      .      .     1     . 

49  —  Valuation    of    School    Property    

32.0 

70 

24 

3 

2 

3 

1      . 



50  —  Vocational    Guidance    

15.5 

87 

9 

4 

1 

11... 

t-1  —  Vocational    and   Trade    Schools    

16.5 

86 

12 

3 

1 

.      .      .     1     . 

52  —  War    Work     

33.0 

69 

20 

5 

2 

;; 

2 

...     1     1 

53  —  Alumni    Directories    

5.8 

97 

•2 

1 

1 

1     .      .     1     . 

*>  9 

100 

o 

1 

55  —  Honors,    Awards,    Perfect    Attendance     

15.5 

87 

8 

7 

1     . 



5(*  —  List   and  Description   of   Real  Estate    

2.9 

100 

1 

1     . 

1     .      .      .      . 

57  —  Minutes   of    Bd.    Meetings    

2.9 

100 

1 

1 

. 

.      .      .     1     . 

58     Miscellaneous    Statistics 

40  8 

61 

29 

8 

<> 

•> 

1 

9  7 

<)3 

9 

1 

3  9 

99 

1 

1 

1 

I 

61  —  Pictures     Miscellaneous    Subjects 

....         10.7 

92 

q 

2 

2  9 

100 

1 

1 

1 

(33  Publicity 

1  0 

102 

1 

64     Report    Cards 

1  0 

102 

1 

65  —  Report    of    Business    Mgr  

.  1.9 

101 

1     1 

66  —  'Report  of  Industrial  and  Com'l     Principals      .      ... 

1.9 

101 

1 

1 

P7  —  Schcol    Gardens        

7  8 

95 

4 

0 

2 

68  —  Summer    School 

19  4 

83 

14 

4 

1 

i 

69  —  Student   Directories 

1  9 

101 

1 

1 

70  —  Wider  Use   of   School   Blclgs 

4  9 

98 

1 

1 

1 

71—  All    Other    Subjects     

45.6 

56 

27 

10 

6 

a 

1      . 

ilncludes    curricula. 

Column  1  shows  the  per  cent  of  the  103  reports  which  contain  subject  matter  dealing  with  each  subject. 
Reading  down  this  column — 12.6  per  cent  of  the  reports  contain  material  on  Americanization;  47.6  per  cent 
on  buildings  and  building  programs,  etc.  The  other  columns  distribute  the  reports  according  to  the  number 
of  pages  devoted  to  the  subject,  e.  g.:  the  figure  at  the  top  of  column  2  shows  that  90  of  the  103  reports 
contain  0  pages  on  Americanization,  the  figure  at  the  top  of  the  column,  that  7  reports  contained  from  .1  to 
2.9  pages  on  Americanization  etc. 


TABLE  XX. 

SHOWING  THE  DISTRIBUTION  OF  103  ANNUAL,  BIENNIAL  AND  TRIENNIAL  SCHOOL  REPORTS 
ACCORDING  TO  THE  PE-R  CENT  OF  THE  TOTAL  NUMBER  OF  PAGES  IN  EACH  DEVOTED  TO  THE 
SUBJECT  LISTED. 

Per  Cents  of  Total   Number  of  Pages  in   Report 

*  *  S  *  *  *  *•  8 

77    i.    i   T  7  5 

ci      M      c~i      o 

1  Americanization    90  1       4 

2  Bldgs.    &    Bldg.    Programs    54  25     12     10       2 

3  Budget,    Finance,    Indebtedness,     Insurance     10  19  23     16       8       9       3       2       2       2      1       2 

4  Census,    Enrollment,    Att.,    Nativity    8  13  25     24     19       6      2       1       3       2     ..      .. 

5  Classes   and    Schools   for   Atypical    74  20       6       1       1       1 

6  Commencement    Programs,    Class    Rolls    48  13     15     12       6       6       3 

7  Continuation    Schools 90  11       1     ..      ..        1 

8  Courses    of    Study    78  14       5       1       1 2       1 

9  Directory   Sch.    Officers,    Teachers    6  23  14     10     16       9     10      4       3       4       4     . . 

10  Equipment      92  10       1 

11  Evening    Schools     51  38     12       1      . .      . .        1 

1 2  Extra   Curricular  Activities 80  12       2 

13  Floor   Plans,    Front   Elevation    98  2       1     ..       2 

14  Health    of    Pupils 39  38     10       5       4     .  .      .  .       1 

15  Index 69  26       5       3 

1(»  In    Memoriam    71  28       4 

17  Instruction,   Methods  of   Teaching    98  2       1 2     . . 

IS  Intelligence   Tests    : 97  3       2     ..       1      ..      ..      

19  Janitors,    Custodians.    Engineers    ' 73  27       2       1 

20  Junior   High   School    86  13       3       1 

21  Laws  and  Administrative  Rules   84  9  4     ..       1       1       1     ..      ..       1       2     .. 

22  Library    83  16      4 

23  Measurement   of   Class    R'm    Achievement    83  7  3       2      3       3     . .      . .       1     .  .       1 

24  Normal   School,    Practice   Teaching    93  S       1     .  .        1 

l1.".  Parochial    and    Private    Schools    9S  5 

26  Pictures   of   Scho<  1    Buildings    64  21     11       4       1       1     . .      . .       1 

27  Pictures   of   School   Work    68  7     17       8 1     . .      . .       2     . . 

28  Population   and   Growth   of   City 87  13     .  .       2       1 

29  Pupil    Classification    and    Progress    19  25  20     13       9       4       5       2       1       1       3       1 

30  Pupil's   Marks    101  2 

31  Supfs  Summary   and   Statement  of  Aim    4  15  15     20       5     12       6       8       6      4       7       1 

32  Report   of   Dist.    Prin.    (General)     91  6     ..       2      1       1       2     ..      .. 

3."  Report  of   High   School   Prin.    (General)     5G  19     13       '.)       3       1       1       1      

34  School    Calender    65  35       2 1     ..      .. 

;,5  School     Costs     42  22  27       6     . .        1       2     . .        1       1      . .        1 

36  School    Grounds    95  8 

M7  School    Program    '. 85  11       2       1       1 3 

38  School  Savings   Banks,    Thrift,    Aid  Funds    88'  13       1     . .        1 

39  Supervisors'    Reports     (General)     46  4  8     16       8       5       6       5       2       1       2     .. 

•40  Statement  from   Sch.   Board    (Pres.   Secy.)    49  33       8       7       3       1 2     .. 

41  Table  of   Contents    74  26       3 

Teachers 

42  Distribution   and   Number  of    64  37       2 

43  Improvement  in  Service    86  17 

44,  Preparation    90  11       1     . .       1 

45  Resignations,    Appointments,    Leaves     73  26       4 

4vi  Salaries,    Annuities,    Insurance     51  30     13       7       1 1     . . 

4  7  Tenure  and  Promotion   of    95  8 

•IS  Textbooks   75  15       5       4       2 

49  Valuation   of    School    Property    70  24  5       2       2     . .      . .       1     . .      . .       1     . . 

50  Vocational   Guidance    87  9       5       1       1 

51  Vocational    Trade    Schools     86  9       6       2 

52  War     Work      69  19      5      3       2       3       1 1     .. 

53  Alumni   Directories    97  2       2 1       1     ..      .. 

54  General   Statistical    Summary    100  3 

55  Honors,    Awards,    Perfect    Attendance     87  7       7     . .      .  .       1       1 

56  List   and   Description   of   Real   Estate    100  1       1 1 

57  Minutes  of   Board    Meetings    100  1       1 1     .. 

."S  Miscellaneous    Statistics    61  32      6       3       1 • 

59  Parent    Teacher    Association    93  9       1 

(iO  Physical    Training     99  1       2     ..      ..       1 

01  Pictures,    Miscellaneous    Subjects    92  11 

<;2  Playgrounds    100  1     . .       1 1     

(>'.'•  Publicity    102  ..        1 

64  Report    Cards    102  .  .       1 

0!>  Report   of   Business   Manager    101  . .       2 

66  Report  of   Industrial   and  Com'l    101  . .       1     . .       1 

€7  School    Gardens    95  5       2       1 

GS  Summer    School    83  16       3     . .       1 « . 

09  Student    Directories     101  . .       1     . .       1 

70  Wider   Use  of  School   Buildings    98  4       1 

71  All   Other   Subjects    56  35  8       4     . 


The  table  reads  from  left  to  right;  e.  g.  in  90  of  the  103  reports  0  per  cent  of  the  content  was  devoted 
to  Americanization;  in  7,  from  .1  to  2.9  per  cent;  in  4,  from  3  to  5.9  per  cent.  From  this  table  it  may 
readily  be  seen  that  in  15  out  of  103  reports,  from  9  to  17.9  per  cent  of  the  space  was  devoted  to  commence- 
meat  programs  and  class  rolls,  that  in  50  reports  from  9  to  49.9  per  cent  of  the  content  was  devoted  to 
directories,  that  in  29  reports  from  9  to  49.9  per  cent  of  the  number  of  pages  is  given  orver  to  general  reports 
from  supervisors,  etc. 


80 


vSCHOOL    RKPOl 


SRICAN   CITIES 


CHART  NO.   8 

on    twelve  Pseubjecti   °F   """^   °f   th&    103   annual>    Wennial   aiul    triennial    reports    examined    contained    material 
This  chart   shows  the  per  cent  of  the  103  school  reports  Which   contained   discussions  of  the   indicated   topics. 


Superintendent's    Gen- 
eral   Statement     .        .  .  96.1 


Directories 


Census,     Enrollment    and 
Attendance    . .  . .  92.2 


Budget   and    Finance    ...   90.3 


Pupil    Classification 
and    Progress    81.6 


Health    of    Pupils    62.1 


School    Costs     59.2 


Supervisors    Reports         ^ 
(General)    55.3 


Commencement  Programs 
and  Class  Rolls    53.4 


Statement   From    School 

Bd.   Pres.    or  Sec'y.    . .  52.4 


Evening    Schools 


Teachers'     Salaries,     An- 
nuities   and    Insurance  50.5 


ANNUAL,  BIENNIAL  AND  TRIENNIAL  REPORTS  81 

CHART  NO.   9 

A  distribution  of  103  annual,  biennial  and  triennial  .school  reports  by  total  number  of  pages  contained. 
This  chart  shows  that  fifty  per  cent  of  the  reports  contain  between  47  and  118  pages  and  that  the  median 
Jeugth  is  80  pages. 

The  chart   roads  12  reports  conlaint-d   between   10  and   20  pages,    13  between   3C    and   49,    etc. 


20, 
18 

..6 
14 
12 
10 


•  Illl 

llllll.i.i 

10     30-      50-      70-      90-      110     130      15O     1™     190      210        230      25O      270     £90     jftfc 
29     49        69        79     109        129     149     169     109      2°9      229        249      269      2*9      309  over 

iTwo   of  the  four  reports  represented   in  this  column  contained  between 
400  and  419  pages,   1  "between  450  and  469,    and  one   between  590  . and  609. 


82 


SCHOOL  REPORTS  IN   AMERICAN   CITIES 


CHART  NO.   10 

Thirty-fire    out    of    103    school    reports    sMudied    contained    charts,    graphs    or  .cartoons.      The    kinds 
together   with    the   frequency   of  the  use  of  each  variety,    is   shown   below. 

Kind   of   Chart                      Times   Used, 
Bar  Graph    86 

Curve   60 

Frequency   Distribution    39 

Component  Part  Circle    37 

iCartoon    17 

Block    Diagram    13 

Composite   Bar  Graph    10 

Dot  Map 3 

Monument  Chart    3 

Up  and  Down  Bar  Chart   3 

Combination    Bar   and    Curve    ....     2 
* 

Cartoon   Graph    1 

Circle   Areas    1 

Concentric    Circle 1  • 

Photographed  Sample   1  I 

Right  and  Lef t  Bar  Chart    1  I 

Square  Areas   1  I 

Total  282   * 

*A11  but   three  of   these   were  found  in  the   1918  report  of   the   Mt.   Vernon,    N.    Y.,    schools. 


I 
I 

I 

I 
I 


ANNUAL,  BIENNIAL  AND  TRIENNIAL  REPORTS  83 

THE  KIND  OF  TYPE  USED  IN  ANNUAL,  BIENNIAL  AND  TRIENNIAL 
SCHOOL  REPORTS 

EIGHT  POINT  LEADED 

Fifteen  reports  out  of  one  hundred  and  three  were  printed  in 
this  style  of  type: 

"In  scholarship  our  pupils  compare  very  favorably  with  those  of 
other  schools.  Pupils  who  have  graduated  from  our  high  school  are 
admitted  on  certificate  wherever  pupils  of  other  high  and  preparatory 
schools  are  received.  Graduates  from  our  colleges  are  pursuing  courses 
of  study  in  the  following  colleges  and  universities:" 

Wilkes-Barre,  Pa.,  Report  1918. 

NINE  POINT  SOLID 

Nine  reports  out  of  one  hundred  and  three  were  printed  in 
this  style  of  type : 

"The  school  census,  taken  in  January,  enumerated  9070  children 
between  tlhe  ages  of  5  and  15  years.  Four  thousand  fifty-eight  were 
listed  as  attending  public  schools,  3,2f41  attending  parochial  schools, 
269  private  schools.  Principals'  reports  -indicate  that  industrial  pros- 
perity has  tempted  many  pupils  to  leave  school  for  (work." 

Woonsocket,  Rhode  Island,  Report  1919. 

NINE  POINT  LEADED 

Six  reports  out  of  one  hundred  and  three  were  printed  in  this 
style  of  type : 

Woonsocket,  'Rhode  Jslanid,  Report  1919. 

;<In  conformity  with  our  opinion  thaifc  the  annual  report  of  a  school 
system  should  be  an  "open  book"  to  (patrons,  taxpayers,  board  of 
education,  members  of  tlhe  corps,  and  members  of  the  teaching  pro- 
fession wherever  engaged  in  'public-school  iwork,  we  have  tried  to  use 
in  this  reponb  only  pertinent  material  and  to  eliminate  what  would  be 
of  little  value  because  of  ladk  of  concreteness1  or  bases  for  com- 
parisons. ' 9 

Denver,  Colorado,  Report  1908-1919. 

TEN  POINT  SOLID 

Sixteen  reports  out  of  one  hundred  and  three  were  printed  in 
this  style  of  type : 


84  SCHOOL  REPORTS  IN  AMERICAN   CITIES 

"At  the  beginning  of  the  present  school  year  we  accepted  as  the 
particular  work  to  be  emphasized  this  session,  apart  from  the 
usual  routine,  the  matter  of  improving  health  conditions.  Under 
the  direction  of  the  United  States  Health  Service  and  of  the 
City  Health  Department  two  physicians  and  two  nurses  have 
given  practically  all  of  their  time  to  the  schools." 

Charlotte,   North  Carolina,   Report   1918-1919. 

TEN  POINT  LEADED 

Thirty  reports  out  of  one  hundred  and  three  were  printed  in 
this  style  of  type: 

"The  following  report  attempts  nothing  more  than  the  briefest 
mention,  for  the  sake  of  record,  of  the  principle  new  policies, 
plans,  and  activities  instituted  during  the  school  year  1917-18. 
To  make  adequate  presentation  of  these,  and  many  other  lesser 
but  important  and  interesting  new  plans  and  activities." 

Cleveland,  Ohio,  Report  1918. 

ELEVEN  POINT  SOLID 

Seventeen  reports  out  of  one  hundred  and  three  were  printed 
in  this  style  of  type : 

1  Teachers  are  expected  to  purchase  magazines, 
school  journals,  books  on  their  respective  subjects,  at- 
tend summer  school  occasionally  and  do  some  traveling. 
All  this  takes  money.  According  to  the  recommendation 
in  Federal  Bulletin  No.  28,  teachers  should  be  paid  such 
a  salary  that  they  can  afford  to  spend  some  money  in 
these  efforts  at  self  improvement."  % 

Fargo,  North  Dakota,  Keport  1917-1919. 

ELEVEN  POINT  LEADED 

Seven  reports  out  of  one  hundred  and  three  were  printed  in 
this  style  of  type : 

'It  is  the  business  of  the  superintendent  of  schools 
to  carry  out  the  general  plans  and  policies  of  the 
school  committee,  attending  to  the  details,  and,  like 
the  superintendent  of  a  business  enterprise,  he  should 
make  a  report  of  what  has  been  done  during  the  year, 
and  stop  there." 

Dover,  New  Hampshire,  Keport  1917. 


ANNUAL,  BIENNIAL  AND  TRIENNIAL  REPORTS  85 


TWELVE  POINT  SOLID 

Three  reports  out  of  one  hundred  and  three  were  printed  in 
this  style  of  type : 

"The  reconstruction  period  after  the  war  does  not  mean 
less  demands  upon  our  schools,  but  more.  Already  we 
feel  the  need  of  a  larger  and  better  educational  program  in 
our  elementary  schools.  A  people  that  has  spent  billions 
of  dollars  in  fighting  a  righteous  war  will  not  withhold  the 
revenue  necessary  to  establish  a  school  system  adequate  to 
the  needs  of  our  reconstruction  period." 

Springfield,  Illinois,  Report  1917-1918. 

It  was  pointed  out  in  Chapter  II  that  the  median  number  of 
copies  of  annual  reports  per  issue  in  American  cities  is  about 
500.  Table  XXI  shows  the  distribution  by  size  of  133  cities 
according  to  the  number  of  copies  in  the  last  issue  of  the  annual 
report.  In  only  a  relatively  small  per  cent  of  the  cities  in  Group 
1  having  a  population  between  8,000  and  15,000  is  a  sufficient 
number  of  copies  printed  to  furnish  one  for  each  family.  If  the 
median  issues  are  taken,  the  per  cent  of  families  which  might 
be  reached  would  vary  from  about  20  to  a  fraction  of  1  per  cent. 


86 


SCHOOL  REPORTS  IN  AMERICAN   CITIES 


TABLE  XXI. 

DISTRIBUTION   OF    CITIES    BY    SIZE    ACCORDING    TO    THE    NUMBER    OF    COPIES 
IN    THE    LAST   ISSUE    OF    THE   ANNUAL   REPORT. 


No.  of  copies                     in  last  issue 

H 

o 

M 

O. 

a 
g 
O 

w 

o. 

O 

Tfl 

O 

B 

O 

>n 

0. 
!3 

2 

o 

0                 t- 

fo. 
D 
s 

o        o 

*5 

Less   than    100              

3 

1 

1 

r> 

100  —    190 

7 

1 

i 

9 

200—    299 

2 

2 

2 

o 

i 

9 

300—    399    

.  .  .  .      3 

2 

3 

1 

1 

10 

400  —    499        

3 

4 

i 

ft 

500  —    599 

8 

2 

5 

8 

2 

1            2 

•>H 

600  —  •    699 

1 

1 

1 

1 

4 

700—    799 

1 

1 

800  —    899    

.  .  .  .       1 

1 

«> 

900  —    999          ...          

1 

1 

1  000  —  1  099 

3 

1 

2 

3 

4 

2            2 

17 

1  100  —  1  199 

1,200  —  1,299    

2 

0 

2 

fl 

1  300  —  1  399    .  .      .  .          

1  400  —  1  499 

1  500  —  1  599 

3 

3 

1 

1 

g 

1,600  —  1,999    

1 

1            1 

3 

2  000—2,499    

2 

5 

3 

10 

2  500  —  2  999                                                 .  .  .  . 

2 

1 

3 

3,  000  —  3  999 

1 

1 

1 

1 

4 

4,000  —  4,999    

1 

1 

5,000  —  5  999    

o 

1 

3 

6  000     6  999 

1 

1 

7  000  7  999 

g  000—  -8  999    

9  000  —  9  999            

10  000  and  over 

Total        

4° 

10 

25 

27 

13 

8             8 

138 

Median   No.    of   copies    575     350 


1,037     1,050     1,050     591 


Group    1..   8,000—15,000  Group    4..   30,000—50,000 

Group    2.  .15,000— 20,000  Group    5..   50,000—100,000 

Group   3.  .20,000— 30,000  Group    6.  .100,000 — 300,000 

Group  7.. 300,000   and   over 

While  it  is  true  that  most  of  the  school  reports  examined  were 
of  a  general  nature  and  sought  to  set  forth  conditions  which 
existed,  the  progress  which  had  been  made  and  improvements 
which  were  yearly  brought  to  the  attention  of  the  school  board  or 
specifically  recommended,  there  were  a  few  reports  which  set 
up  definite  problems  and  devoted  the  major  part  of  the  discussion 
to  these  definite  problems. 

The  biennial  report  of  the  Spokane  Public  Schools  for  the 
two  years  ending  June  30th,  1918,  and  the  annual  report  of  the 
school  committee  of  Providence,  R.  I.  for  the  year  1918-1919, 


ANNUAL,  BIKNNIAL  AND  TRIENNIAL  REPORTS  87 

are  examples  of  cases  where  the  superintendent  set  up  as  his 
objective  to  make  a  "self  survey"  of  the  school  system.  In  these 
reports  comparative  material  is  presented  much  after  the  fashion 
of  the  reports  of  survey  commissions  in  order  to  show  to  the  citi- 
zens who  read  the  reports  the  standing  of  the  local  school  sys- 
tem as  compared  with  those  in  other  cities.  In  the  annual  report 
of  the  Public  Schools  for  New  Britain,  Conn.,  for  1918-19 
two  definite  problems  are  stated  in  the  beginning  of  the 
report  and  the  entire  report  is  devoted  to  a  solution  of  these 
problems.  The  following  is  a  quotation  from  the  82d  report  of 
the  Board  of  Education  of  Cleveland,  Ohio  for  the  school  year 
1917-18  :* 

"The  following  report  attempts  nothing  more  than  the  briefest 
mention,  for  the  sake  of  record,  of  the  principal  new  policies,  plans, 
and  activities  instituted  during  the  school  year  1917-18.  To  make  ade- 
quate presentation  of  these,  and  many  other  lesser  but  important  and 
interesting  new  plans  and  activities,  would  require  a  ponderous,  unin- 
viting and  expensive  volume  that  few  people  would  read.  Instead,  it 
is  planned  to  issue  from  time  to  time  attractive  monographs  or  pam- 
phlets, each  treating  some  single  phase  of  the  work  or  policy  of  the 
schools." 

This  aim,  as  stated  by  Supt.  Spalding  in  the  above  quotation, 
is  a  novel  one  for  the  annual  report.  It  frankly  assumes  that 
the  annual  report  is  not  for  the  general  public,  that  it  would  not 
be  read  by  the  general  public  and  that  an  entirely  different  kind  of 
publication  would  be  necessary  in  order  to  put  the  case  of  the 
schools  before  it. 

To  reach  the  public,  Supt.  Spalding,  as  suggested  in  the  state- 
ment quoted  above,  planned  a  series  of  bulletins  on  such  subjects 
as  Adenoids  and  Arithmetic,  School  use  of  Libraries,  The  Field 
of  the  Commercial  School,  Salary  Schedules,  School  Gardens, 
Factory  Schools,  News-writing  as  a  Part  of  the  Curriculum, 
Cleveland's  One-story  School  Buildings,  The  Shift  Plan,  School 
Housing,  The  Price  of  Education  and  Teacher  Training.2 

1  82d  report  of  Bd.  of  Ed.,  Cleveland,  O.  pll. 

2  School  Topics  (Official  publication  of  the  Cleveland  Public  Schools), 
April  8th,  1920. 


88  SCHOOL  REPORTS  IN  AMERICAN  CITIES 

As  another  means  of  presenting  school  facts  to  the  teaching 
body  and  public,  the  Board  of  Education  in  Cleveland  started 
on  April  8th,  1920  a  publication  called  "School  Topics."  It  is 
stated  in  the  first  issue  of  "School  Topics"  that  the  publication  is 
a  continuation  of  the  Cleveland  school  bulletin  which  was  estab- 
lished in  February,  1919.  The  paper  is  intended  for  teachers 
and  citizens.  It  is  in  charge  of  a  director  of  publications,  is 
issued  twice  a  month  and  is  intended  to  supplement  the  Cleve- 
land daily  newspapers  and  to  publish  a  certain  kind  of  news 
which  does  not  appear  in  the  daily  papers.  This  publication  is 
clearly  of  the  "house  organ"  type  and  judging  from  the  copies 
examined,  it  is  written  in  a  very  readable  and  attractive  style. 

In  the  64th  annual  report  of  the  Board  of  Education  in  the 
city  of  St.  Louis,  Supt.  Withers  announces  a  change  from  a 
method  of  reporting  school  facts  previously  in  use  in  that  city. 

The  following  statement  shows  very  clearly  the  character  of 
the  proposed  change : 

"The  discussions  of  various  phases  of  the  progress  of  the  schools 
during  the  year  covered  by  this  report,  1917-18,  were  not  prepared  in 
the  form  previously  followed  in  the  annual  reports  of  the  Superintendent 
for  many  years  past.  Instead,  it  was  planned  that  the  report  of  the 
Superintendent  for  the  year  1917-18  should  discuss  only  a  few  very 

prominent  features  of  the  school  work  for  that  year The  plan 

of  the  Superintendent's  report  contemplated  the  inclusion  of  only  these 
discussions  and  because  of  the  length  of  them  it  was  expected  to  leave 
out  the  usual  summary  of  the  progress  in  the  several  departments  of 
the  school  work 

In  line  with  the  form  of  this  report  which  the  war  situation  made 
advisable,  a  recommendation  to  publish  the  annual  report  in  similar 
form  in  the  future  was  made  to  the  Board  November  12,  1918,  and 
approved.  Instead  of  printing  a  large  number  of  complete  volumes 
many  months  after  the  year  has  closed,  this  plan  contemplates  the 
issuance  during  the  school  year  of  discussions  of  specific  phases  of 
school  work  as  advance  prints  of  the  Superintendent's  annual .  report. 
It  is  planned  to  give  these  pamphlets  a  wide  distribution  both  in  the 
city  and  outside  and  to  restrict  very  materially  the  circulation  formerly 
made  of  he  large  and  expensive  complete  reports  of  the  Board.  It  is 
expected  that  the  publication  of  the  report  in  this  way  will  be  to  the  ad- 
vantage of  the  schools  in  a  much  wider  and  more  immediate  publicity 
of  significant  progress  in  the  schools."1 

1 64th   Annual   Report   of   the   Bd.    of   Ed.    of   the   city   of   St.    Louis, 
Missouri,  pp9,  10,   11. 


ANNUAL,  BIENNIAL  AND  TRIENNIAL  REPORTS  89 

A  somewhat  similar  attitude  toward  the  annual  report  is  in- 
dicated in  the  following  extract  from  the  annual  report  of  the 
public  schools  of  Hackensack,  N.  J.,  for  the  year  1918: 

What  the  Annual  The  superintendent's  annual  report  is  intended 

Report  is  for  chiefly  to  inform  the  public  of  the  work  of  the 

schools  and  to  interest  them  in  means  of  im- 
provement. The  problem  is  to  present  the  report  in  such  a  way  that 
people  will  read  it  and  think  about  the  matters  discussed.  Few  people 
will  read  a  long  report  unless  it  is  decidedly  interesting,  and  some  of 
the  facts  which  people  ought  to  know  can  hardly  be  made  exciting. 

Would  a  Monthly  In    the    effort    to    gain    public    attention    more 

Report  be  better?  effectively,    a  few   cities   have   begun   to    issue 

reports  in  small  sections,  quarterly,  bi-monthly 

or  monthly.  In  his  way,  a  given  report  may  be  devoted  to  a  single 
subject,  and  questions  can  be  discussed  when  they  are  of  current  in- 
terest instead  of  six  months  after  settlement. 

We  might  try  it  I  have  considered  the  new  type  of  report  for  some 

time   but  have   not  recommended  it  because   the 

work  of  preparing  it  would  sometimes  have  to  be  done  under  pressure 
of  time  and  it  would  probably  increase  the  expense  of  printing.  How- 
ever, I  am  in  favor  of  anything  which  will  increase  the  public  interest 
in  the  schools,  and  if  the  Board  approves,  I  should  be  glad  to  try  the 
plan  of  monthly  bulletins  during  the  coming  year.  Following  is  a 
list  of  topics  as  they  might  be  divided  among  the  several  reports: 
September — Statistical  and  Financial  Reports  of  the  preceding  year. 

Graduation,  Summer  School.     Changes  in  teaching  staff. 
October — Opening    of    School.      Enrollment.      Plans    of    development 

for  the  year. 

November — Evening  schools.     Wider  use  df  school  houses. 
December — Physical  Training,   Assembly    Exercises.      Medical   Inspec- 
tion. 

January — Recommendations   affecting  next  year's   budget. 
February — Statistical   Reports  for  the  first   term.    January   Graduates. 
March — Budget  for  next  year.     Business  for  the  annual  school  meet- 
ing.    Report  of  year  for  evening  schools. 
April — Reorganization  of  the   Board — officer*  and   committees.     Plans 

for  exhibits  of  school  work. 
May — Features    of    the    year's    work    in    Manual    Training,    Drawing, 

Music  or  other  subjects. 

June — Calendar  for  the  new  year.     Plans  for  summer  school.     Notable 
accomplishments  of  the  year 


90  SCHOOL  REPORTS  IN  AMERICAN   CITIES 

The  following  facts  lead  one  to  doubt  if  the  annual  school 
report  as  it  is  now  published  in  American  cities  is  really  an 
effective  means  for  reaching  the  public  in  order  to  secure 
greater  support  for  education : 

1.  The  reports  are,  in  general,  issued  in  such   small  numbers  as  to 
make  it  impossible  for  them  to  reach  more  than  from  two  to  thirty 
per  cent,  of  the  families  in  American  cities. 

2.  In   typical    school   reports    no    special   attempt    is    made   to    render 
them  readable  and  attractive.     Only  about  one-third  of  city  school 
reports  contain  graphs,  cartoons,  maps  or  charts  and  only  thirty- 
four  per  cent  contain  pictures  illustrative  of  school  work  or  school 
activities. 

3.  Annual  reports  are  too  long  to  be  read  by  the  great  majority  of 
citizens.     There  is  no   question  in  the  minds  of  advertising  men 
but  that  the  vast  majority  of  men  and  women  simply  will  not  take 
the  time  to  read  a  75  or  80  or  100  page  document  on  all  phases 
of  school  work  and  probably  none  of  the  superintendents  who  write 
annual  reports  actually  believe  that  any  appreciable  number  of  the 
people  of  his  community  pay  any  special  attention  to  the  statis- 
tical tables  which  he  inserts,  unless  some  definite  problem  comes 
up  on  which  the  tables  give  information. 

4.  In  over   90  per  cent,   of  the   school   reports   examined,   no   definite 
problems  were  set  up  for  solution.     The  reports  were  written  in 
accordance  with  the  law  of  the  state,  in  compliance  with  the  rules 
and   regulations    of   the   board   of    Education,    in   accordance   with 
custom,   to   review   the   past   year's   work,    show   conditions   in   the 
schools,   to   cause   teachers   to   become   more   interested   in   school 
work,    etc.      It    is    the    exceptional    school    report    which    sets    up 

definite  clear-cut  issues  or  problems  and  then  proceeds  to  present 
material  which  bears  on  the  solution  of  the  problem  stated. 

5.  There  is  a  mass  of  material  in  most  annual  reports  which  seems 
to  be  put  in  either  as  a  filler,  as  a  permanent  record  or  because 
of  its   interest  to  a  very  limited  group   of  persons.      In  this   class 
of  material  would   fall   commencement   programs   and   class   rolls, 
lists   of  janitors,   custodians   and    engineers,    school   laws   and   ad- 
ministrative   rules    of    the    Board    of    Education,    floor    plans    and 
front    elevations    of    school    buildings,    reports    of    supervisors    ad- 
dressed  to   the   superintendent   of   schools,   school   calendars,    long 
lists  of  textbooks,  alumni  directories,  lists  of  honors,  awards  and 
perfect  attendance,  minutes  of  board  meetings,  student  directories 
and  itemized  expenditures. 

6.  The  mechanical  nature  of  the  make-up  of  many  of  the  reports  is 
not  such  as  to  attract  readers.    Twenty-six  of  the  one  hundred  and 


ANNUAL,  BIENNIAL.  AND  TRIENNIAL  REPORTS  91 

three  reports  examined,  contained  an  index  but  no  table  of  contents. 
Twenty-one  contained  the  table  of  contents  but  no  index,  eight 
had  both  the  index  and  a  table  of  contents,  while  forty-eight  con- 
tained neither  table  of  contents  nor  index.  Slightly  less  than  15 
per  cent  of  the  reports  were  written  in  eight  point  type  which  is 
extremely  difficult  to  read  and  certainly  not  calculated  to  invite  at- 
tention to  the  content,  no  matter  how  simple  the  language  or  in- 
teresting the  subject. 

In  conclusion,  it  is  submitted  that  the  annual,  biennial  and 
triennial  school  reports  as  they  are  published  today  in  American 
cities  do  not  furnish  the  means  for  an  adequate  program  of 
giving  to  the  great  body  of  citizens  the  information  which  they 
should  have  as  a  basis  for  supporting  the  public  schools. 

In  the  following  chapter  will  be  suggested  the  principles  upon 
which  an  adequate  program  of  reporting  school  facts  should  be 
based  and  a  system  of  school  reporting  will  be  recommended 
which  satisfies  the  principles  enumerated. 


CHAPTER  IV 

THE:  PRINCIPLES  AND  PRACTICE  OF  UTILIZING  SCHOOL  REPORTS 
AS  A  MEANS  o?  SECURING  SUPPORT  FOR  EDUCATION. 

•  It  has  been  shown  in  previous  chapters  that  in  so  far  as 
official  school  publications  go,  city  school  superintendents  in 
the  United  States  rely  chiefly  on  annual,  biennial  and  triennial 
reports  for  presenting  the  case  of  the  schools  to  the  public.  It 
has  been  shown  also  that  while  this  is  the  general  situation,  a 
small  percentage  of  cities  have  either  substituted  smaller  mono- 
graphs for  the  larger  and  more  formal  periodic  reports,  or  have 
used  them  as  supplemental.  Evidence  has  also  been  presented 
to  show  that  certain  other  means  of  putting  school  information 
before  the  public,  such  as  campaign  bulletins,  posters,  reprints 
or  advance  prints  of  certain  portions  of  the  annual  reports, 
newspaper  advertisements,  folders,  and  official  school  newspapers 
of  the  "house  organ"  type  are  in  use  in  a  few  cities. 

It  is  the  purpose  of  this  chapter  to  outline  the  principles  on 
which  an  adequate  system  of  reporting  school  facts  to  the  public 
should  be  based  and  to  present  a  definite  plan  based  on  the 
principles  set  forth. 

In  the  first  place,  the  manner  of  presenting  school  facts  must 
be  based  on  a  clear  conception  of  the  audience  to  be  reached. 
.The  audience  may  be  analyzed  from  two  points  of  view.  First,' 
people  may  be  grouped  on  the  basis  of  the  extent  to  which  they 
are  acquainted  with  the  methods  of  investigation,  the  technical 
terms  and  special  vocabulary  of  the  educational  profession. 

The  school  board,  through  its  discussions  with  the  superintend- 
ent and  other  school  officials  may  be  presumed  to  have  a  basis 
for  being  interested  in  and  being  able  to  understand  certain  dis- 
cussions which  would  be  of  little  interest  to  and  perhaps  quite 
beyond  the  understanding  of  the  layman.  Teachers,  principals 
and  supervisors  have,  in  general,  a  control  over  the  methods  used 
in  educational  experimentation  and  research,  and  an  interest  in 

(92) 


PRINCIPLES  AND  PRACTICE  93 

certain  professional  phases  of  the  work  of  the  schools  which  will 
enable  them  to  understand  and  appreciate  kinds  of  subject 
matter  which  would  not  appeal  to  or  be  understood  by  people  in 
general. 

There  is  also  in  every  city  a  group  of  citizen  leaders  who  have 
either  an  active  or  potential  interest  in  the  work  of  the  schools 
as  a  means  of  civic  and  general  progress.  These  leaders  may  be 
found  among  the  members  of  various  civic,  social,  commercial, 
literary  and  other  organizations  of  the  city.  In  many  cases  they 
are  actively  seeking  opportunities  to  further  worthy  causes.  For 
this  reason,  it  seems  entirely  justifiable  to  consider  them  as  a 
class  decidedly  worth  reaching.  The  school  monographs  men- 
tioned in  Chapter  III  which  the  school  authorities  in  Cleveland 
plan  to  issue  are  mainly  intended  for  this  class  according  to  the 
following  statement  from  School  Topics,  an  official  publication 
of  the  Cleveland  school  board. 

"Copies  of  these  monographs,  as  they  are  printed,  will  be  sent  to  all 
public  schools  in  the  city.  This  will  make  it  possible  for  all  teachers 
to  read  every  monograph.  It  will  not  be  possible,  however,  to  pro- 
vide a  copy  for  every  teacher. 

These  popular  pamphlets  will  be  sent  to  the  public  libraries  and 
to  many  clubs  and  organizations  of  Cleveland.  Also  they  will  go  to 
the  larger  school  systems  and  the  more  responsible  school  officials 
throughout  America." 

"By  means  of  the  series  of  monographs  the  work  and  interests  of 
the  schools  will  be  brought  home,  it  is  hoped,  to  all  public  officials  of 
the  city  and  country,  to  the  Ohio  legislators  and  to  Cleveland's  repre- 
sentatives in  Congress.  All  will  receive  copies." 

Another  class  of  people  who  have  either  active  or  potential 
interest  in  a  special  sort  of  school  information  is  composed  of 
possible  school  students.  Some  cities  have  given  special  at- 
tention to  the  manner  of  reaching  this  class  of  students  and  have 
issued  folders,  display  cards  in  street  cars  and  have  furnished 
pictures  and  copy  to  the  newspapers  for  feature  articles  relative 
to  the  opportunities  offered  in  evening  classes.  In  some  cities  an 
attempt  has  been  made  to  reach  possible  day  high  school  students 
through  special  phamphlets  describing  the  opportunities  offered 
in  the  various  courses  of  instruction. 


94  SCHOOL  REPORTS  IN  AMERICAN   CITIES 

There  is,  finally,  that  somewhat  undefined  group,  the  "general 
public,"  the  audience  for  which  annual,  biennial,  triennial  and 
monograph  school  reports  are  now  mainly  intended,  but  could 
not  in  the  vast  majority  of  cases  reach  for  the  simple  reason 
that  as  a  matter  of  general  practice  not  enough  copies  are  issued 
to  supply  more  than  from  one  to  twenty  per  cent  of  the  families 
in  the  city,  even  though  no  copies  were  used  for  the  purpose  of 
exchanging  reports  with  other  cities. 

It  is  perhaps  well  to  think  of  the  "general  public"  in  con- 
nection with  another  classification  which  should  be  clearly  kept 
in  mind  in  the  publication  of  reports  for  the  purpose  of  securing 
support  for  education — the  classification  of  people  according  to 
the  distribution  of  intelligence.  The  statement  that  the  audience 
which  school  reports  are  designed  to  reach  may  be  classified 
according  to  varying  degrees  of  intelligence  which  people  possess 
is,  of  course,  not  intended  to  mean  that  it  is  possible  to  establish 
clear  cut  lines  between  classes  of  people  with  different  degrees  of 
intelligence.  However,  the  scientifically  established  fact  of  the 
continuity  of  variations  in  intelligence  does  not  prevent  the 
application  of  the  facts  of  individual  differences  in  intelligence 
to  an  analysis  of  the  audience  to  be  reached  by  any  type  of  publi- 
cation in  any  city.  The  fact  that  fathers  and  mothers  are  generally 
interested  in  their  children,  that  people  in  general  have  for  the 
most  part  the  same  desire  for  a  square  deal,  that  they  are  fond 
of  their  homes  and  have  the  same  human  sympathies  by  no 
means  implies  that  all  people  are  able  to  read  the  same  kind  of 
school  publications. 

The  fact  that  "people  of  the  same  age  differ  enormously,  more 
in  intelligence  than  they  do  in  height,  strength,  etc."1  needs  to 
be  kept  clearly  in  mind  by  every  city  superintendent  who  wishes 
to  reach  the  "general  public"  by  means  of  published  school  re- 
ports. Professor  A.  I.  Gates  is  authority  for  the  table  XXII 
as  an  approximation  of  variation  of  intelligence  among  adults 
in  the  United  States.  This  table  was  derived  from  a  study  of 
many  mental  tests  given  by  psychologists  to  school  students  and 
adults  and  the  tests  given  to  some  two  million  soldiers. 

1  From   an   unpublished   manuscript   by   A.    I.    Gates,    Assistant    Pro- 
fessor of   Psychology,   Teachers   College,   Columbia   University. 


PRINCIPLES  AND  PRACTICE  95 


TABLE  XXII. 


Intelligence  Quotient 

Per  cent  of  adults  having 

indicated  I  Q 

Below  65 

0.33 

66-75 

2.3 

76-85 

9.0 

86-95 

21.67 

96-105 

33.3 

106-115 

21.6 

116-125 

9. 

126-135 

2.3 

136  and  over 

0.33 

The   facts  in   Table  XXII  are   shown  graphically   in  Chart   No.    11. 

Professor  Gates  sums  up  the  characteristics  of  the  various  grades 
of  I.  Q's  as  follows: 

"The  lowest  'I  Q's' — 0-25  are  idiots;  25-50  I  Q's  are  imbeciles,  reach- 
ing as  adults  tlje  general  intelligence  of  average  children  3-7  years  of 
age.  I  Q's  from  50-65  or  70  are  'Feebleminded'  in  various  degrees. 
About  2  per  cent  of  the  population  have  I  Q's  below  70  per  cent." 

I  Q's  from  70-80  rarely  go  further  than  the  fifth  grade  in  school 
which  is  beyond  the  intellectual  limit  of  most  of  them.  The  majority 
of  adults  in  the  servant  girl  and  unskilled  labor  class  are  in  this  range. 
Many  semi-skilled  laborers  have  I  Q's  of  around  80. 

The  range  from  80-90  I  Q's  are  "very  dull"  and  require  from  9-12 
years  to  finish  eight  grades,  most  of  them  never  completing  school. 
Note  that  one-third  of  the  population  have  I  Q's  of  95  or  less. 

The  range  from  95-105  I  Q's  includes  one-third  of  the  population. 
These  are  the  genuinely  "average"  people.  They  are  intelligent  enough 
to  finish  grammar  school,  but  only  about  one-third  of  the  whole  group 
do.  Only  a  few  of  the  upper  part  of  this  range  (100-105)  go  through 
high  school.  As  a  matter  of  fact  only  6  or  7  per  cent  of  our  population 
ever  finish  high  school  and  most  of  these  are  in  the  upper  third  of  in- 
telligence (105  and  above.)" 

From  the  above  data  and  from  tests  which  have  been  given, 
Professor  Gates  concludes  that  the  language  ability  of  the  "aver- 
age adult"  is  about  that  of  pupils  in  the  sixth  or  seventh  grades.1 
If  this  is  typical  of  the  language  ability  of  the  middle  33  per  cent, 
the  printed  material  which  would  reach  any  great  portion  of  the 
lower  33  per  cent  of  the  adult  population  would  of  necessity  be 
much  simpler  than  that  of  any  of  the  school  publications  which 
have  yet  been  issued. 

In  connection  with  the  division  of  the  audience  on  the  basis 
of  intelligence,  it  must  be  remembered  that  there  are  some  five 
and  a  half  million  illiterates  in  the  United  States  and  that  almost 

three    million     foreign-born    persons    living    in    this    country 

?- 

^  See  note  1,  page  94. 


96 


SCHOOL  REPORTS  IN  AMERICAN   CITIES 


CHART  NO.  11 
Showing  the  distribution   of   intelligence!  among   adults   in   The   United   States. 

Per  cent 
of  adults 


Intelligence 
Quotients 


Below   6£-   76-   86-   96-  106-  116-   126-  1J6- 
65   75   85   95   105   115   125   1??   «nd 


over 


PRINCIPLES  AND  PRACTICE  97 

are  unable  to  read  English.  For  this  class  visual  appeal  through 
motion  pictures,  slides  and  cartoons,  and  reproductions  of  photo- 
graphs must  take  the  place  of  printed  reports. 

In  addition  to  the  principle  that  the  different  types  of  school  / 
reports  should  be  adapted  to  the  audience  for  which  they  are  in- 
tended, due  regard  should  be  given  to  the  matter  of  economy. 
This  principle  by  no  means  assumes  that  the  portion  of  the  school 
budget  spent  for  publication  of  school  reports  is  at  present  time 
too  large.  On  the  contrary,  it  is  so  extremely  small  as  to  be 
almost  negligible  for  most  American  cities.  The  principle,  how- 
ever, should  have  this  significance.  There  is  no  particular  reason 
for  including  in  a  school  report  published  for  wide  distribution  a 
mass  of  material  which  the  greater  part  of  the  population  either 
cannot  understand  or  does  not  appreciate.  This  would  mean  that 
the  portion  of  annual  school  reports  intended  directly  for  ad- 
ministrative purposes  or  for  acquainting  the  teachers  with  results 
of  educational  experiments,  research  and  educational  tests,  might 
well  be  mimeographed  or  multigraphed  and  distributed  among 
those  for  whom  the  information  is  designed.  School  reports  of 
this  type  are  becoming  frequent.  The  quarterly  mimeographed 
reports  of  the  superintendent  of  schools  in  Leavenworth,  Kansas, 
and  Bucyrus,  Ohio,  the  report  of  a  building  survey  of  the  public 
schools  of  Elizabeth,  New  Jersey,  the  mimeographed  survey  of 
the  status  of  the  public  schools  in  St.  Louis,  Missouri,  made  for 
the  benefit  of  those  participating  in  the  campaign  to  secure  ad- 
ditional money  for  teachers'  salaries  in  the  fall  of  1919,  and  the 
mimeographed  report  of  the  Board  of  Education  in  Eugene, 
Oregon,  which  is  shown  in  the  illustration  on  page  41,  may  be 
mentioned  as  examples  of  reports  of  this  sort. 

In  the  third  place,  the  principles  of  psychology  which  apply  \ 
to  advertising  in  general  should  guide  in  the   formation  of   a    ' 
policy  of  reporting  school  facts  to  the  public.     Superintendents 
of  schools  are  well  acquainted  with  the  modern  theories  with  re- 
spect to  the  use  of  subject-matter.    They  know  that,  psycholog- 
ically speaking,  subject-matter  orginates  in  order  to  solve  certain 
problems.     In  spite  of  this  knowledge,  however,  the  typical  an- 
nual report  is  not  written  to  solve  a  definite  problem  or  problems. 


98  SCHOOL  REPORTS  IN  AMERICAN   CITIES 

In  some  cases  where  this  intention  was  evidently  present  in  the 
mind  of  the  superintendent  of  schools,  it  is  not  made  apparent  in 
the  text.  In  all  of  the  one  hundred  and  three  periodical  reports 
examined,  there  were  only  two  or  three  where  the  superintend- 
ent stated  his  problem  in  the  beginning  and  definitely  showed  the 
relation  of  the  material  included  in  the  report  to  the  solution  of 
the  problem  stated. 

A  second  phase  of  the  problem  of  utilizing  the  psychological 
principles  which  apply  to  advertising  is  that  the  style  used  in 
reports  must  be  such  as  to  make  the  contents  readily  understood 
by  the  readers  for  whom  they  are  intended.  This  means  that 
the  sentences  should  be  relatively  short  and  simple  and  that  ftiere 
should  be  no  long  complicated  paragraphs.  It  means  also  that 
attention  should  be  paid  to  the  mechanical  devices  which  ad- 
vertising men  have  found  of  use  in  attracting  the  attention  of 
the  reader. 

Pictures  and  charts  are  not  only  more  dynamic  than  verbal 
description  but  they  serve  to  attract  attention  to  and  create  in- 
terest in  the  words  of  the  text.  In  a  survey  of  the  school  build- 
ing situation  in  Delaware,  by  Strayer,  Engelhardt  and  Hart,1 
most  effective  use  was  made  of  pictures  to  tell  the  story  of  school 
building  conditions  in  the  entire  state.  In  a  survey  of  the  schools 
of  Greensboro,  North  Carolina,2  the  conditions  which  made 
many  of  the  school  buildings  of  the  city  dangerous  to  pupils  in 
case  of  fire  were  strikingly  shown  by  means  of  a  series  of  pic- 
tures. In  a  survey  of  the  schools  of  St.  John's  Newfoundland,3 
more  than  fifty  pictures  were  used  to  show  the  condition  of  school 
buildings,  fire  hazards,  over  crowding,  etc.,  as  well  as  good  con- 
ditions from  other  cities  for  purposes  of  comparison. 

The  following  samples  taken  from  campaign  bulletins  re- 
cently issued  in  the  cities  of  Des  Moines,  Iowa  and  Buffalo,  New 
York,  represent  attempts  to  adopt  a  style  which  will  appeal  to 
the  average  reader: 

-1  General  Report  on  School  Buildings  and  Grounds  of  Delaware,  pub- 
lished by  the  Service  Citizens  of  Delaware,  Wilmington,  1919. 

-  An  unpublished  Survey  Report  on  the  Schools  of  Greensboro,  N. 
C.,  made  by  Strayer  and  Engelhardt  in  March,  1920. 

3  Made  by  Engelhardt  and  Hart  in  May  1920.     Unpublished. 


SHACKS  FOR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR 
EMERGENCY 


The  shortage  of  building  materials  during  the  war  made  it 
necessary  to  erect  several  temporary  shacks  for  schools. 


(IN  THE  BULLETIN,  A  PICTURE 

OF  A  TEMPORARY  SCHOOL 

SHACK  WAS  SHOWN  AT  THIS 

POINT.) 


Seventeen  classes,  500  children,  are  now  attending  ^school  in 
shacks  like  this. 


Shall  We  Waste  Money  and  Injure  Children 
by  Building  More  Shacks  to  be  Replaced  Later  with  Per- 
manent Buildings,  or 

Shall  We  Save  Money  and  Benefit  Children  by 
Erecting  Permanent  Buildings  Now 


(99) 


100  SCHOOL  REPORTS  IN  AMERICAN  CITIES 

High  Schools  Far  Beyond  Capacity 


The  normal  capacity  of  the  three  high  schools  is  3,700  pupils. 

The  present  enrollment  in  the  high  schools  is  as  follows: 

East  High  School 1,636 

West   High   School : 1,549  ' 

North  High  School 1,079 


4,264 

The  high  schools  are  today  housing  about  600  more  pupils  than 
they  can  properly  accommodate. 

Pupils  are  entering  the  high  schools  from  the  grades  in  con- 
stantly increasing  numbers.  There  is  today  a  larger  proportion 
of  the  total  city  school  enrollment  in  high  school  than  ten  years 
ago.  The  percentages  are : 

1909-10  _  .  13.8  per  cent 

1918-19 _  20.2  per  cent 

During  the  past  .five  years  the  high  school  enrollment  has  in- 
creased at  the  rate  of  305  pupils  each  year. 


As  shown  above  the  present  high  school  enrollment  is  approx- 
imately 4,300.  At  the  present  rate  of  increase  the  enrollment 
for  the  next  seven  years  will  be  as  follows : 


1919-20  _-:. 4,300 

1920-21  4,605 

1921-22  4,910 

1922-23  5,215 

1923-24 5,520 

1924-25  5,825 

1925-26 6,130 

1926-27 .  6,435  J 


Increase 

in  7  years 

of  2,135 

pupils 


WHERE  WILL  THESE  2,135  PUPILS  GO  UNLESS  RE- 
LIEF IS  PROVIDED  WITHOUT  DELAY? 


9  PRINCIPLES  AND  PRACTICE  101 

A   SQUARE    DEAL    TO   THE 

LITTLE  CHILDREN 

OF    BUFFALO1 


The  population  of  Buffalo  has  increased  1 00,000  people 
in  the  past  five  years! 

During  this  time,  the  city  has  built  for  children  below  the 
high  school  only  56  permanent  school  rooms.  This  is  less 
than  the  equivalent  of  two  of  our  large  elementary  schools.  Try 
to  imagine  a  city  of  1 00,000  people  with  only  two  grade 
schools,  and  the  situation  becomes  very  clear. 

9,000  LITTLE  CHILDREN  IN  TEMPORARY 
QUARTERS 

9,000  little  children  go  to  school  daily  in  temporary 
quarters — church  basements,  private  houses,  stores  and  annexes. 
Naturally,  the  light,  heat,  ventilation  and  working  conditions  in 
these  places  are  not  what  they  should  be.  None  of  these  make- 
shifts is  desirable.  They  are  expensive  and  unsatisfactory  in 
operation.  Many  of  the  children  in  attendance  would  have 
better  accomodations  in  a  country  school. 

2,500  CHILDREN  ON  HALF  TIME 

The  city  has  2, 500  children  on  half  time.  Clearly,  these 
children  are  not  being  given  a  "square  deal."  Nothing  can 
be  said  in  defense  of  half  time,  and  the  children  who  are  com- 
pelled to  attend  school  on  this  basis  are  being  deprived  of 
the  rights  to  which  they  are  morally  and  legally  en- 
titled. 

1  For  a  photographic  reproduction  of  the  cover  page  of  this  bulletin,  see 
page  47.  • 


102  ^  SCHOOL  REPORTS  IN  AMERICAN   CITIES 

A  third  phase  of  the  application  of  the  principles  of 
psychology  to  school  reporting  is  the  principle  that  to  influence 
the  conduct  or  attitudes  of  people,  school  reports  should  be  timely. 
Newspapers  refuse  news  stories  that  are  out  of  date.  They 
know  that  few  people  are  seriously  interested  in  past  events  un- 
less these  events  apply  very  definitely  to  real  problems  of  the 
present.  Much  of  the  content  of  annual,  biennial  and  triennial 
reports  is  printed  long  after  the  material  has  lost  its  timeliness 
and  news  value. 

A  fourth  psychological  fact  which  should  be  influential  in  de- 
termining the  nature  of  the  system  of  reporting  school  facts 
best  calculated  to  win  support,  is  that  people  strive  to  further 
those  movements  and  causes  for  which  they  have  a  feeling  of 
value.  The  good  will  which  goes  along  with  this  feeling  of  value 
is  perhaps  not  to  be  developed  entirely  by  the  presentation  of 
facts.  In  commercial  enterprises  the  cultivation  of  favorable 
"attitudes"  has  been  attempted  through  the  publication  of  "house 
organs"  in  which  human  interest  features  intimately  related  to 
the  readers'  problems  and  desires  are  included. 

The  following  is  submitted  as  a  type  of  a  program  of  school 
reporting  which  would  satisfy  the  principles  set  forth  in  this 
chapter : 

I.  AN  ANNUAL  REPORT 

A  report  should  be  published  annually  to  present  complete 
statistical  and  other  informational  data  for  the  use  of  the  official 
educational  staff  and  certain  especially  interested  citizen  leaders 
of  the  community.  This  report  might  consist,  as  in  some  of  the 
larger  cities  at  the  present  time,  of  the  collection  of  pamphlets 
and  monographs  issued  from  time  to  time  during  the  school  year, 
supplemented  by  certain  technical  statistical  material  published 
mainly  for  the  sake  of  record  and  convenient  reference. 

II.    A  TIMELY  FINANCIAL  REPORT 
An  annual  publication  of  the  budget  estimate  for  the  coming 
school  year  to  be  presented  to  the  public  before  the  annual  school 


PRINCIPLES  AND  PRACTICE  103 

election  or  at  the  time  when  the  community  is  actively  interested 
in  the  determination  of  the  extent  of  the  financial  support  neces- 
sary for  the  coming  year.  The  publication  of  the  budget  esti- 
mates in  annual  reports  issued  by  cities  at  the  present  time  could 
be  of  no  great  significance  because  of  the  fact  that  figures  have 
•lost  their  news  value  owing  to  the  great  length  of  time  which 
has  elapsed  between  the  date  when  the  budget  was  a  live  issue 
and  the  date  of  the  publication  of  the  report. 

III.  MONOGRAPHS  ON  LIVE  ISSUES 

The  same  principle  which  applies  to  the  publication  of  the 
budget  estimate  and  financial  accounts  of  the  school  district 
applies  equally  to  publications  along  many  other  lines.  If  the 
school  system,  for  instance,  is  carrying  on  a  health  campaign, 
the  publication  of  a  description  of  the  work  being  done  and  the 
aims  to  be  accomplished  would  have  infinitely  greater  news  value 
if  it  were  published  while  the  actual  work  was  going  forward,  than 
if,  after  a  period  of  four  or  five  months,  it  appeared  in  a  lengthy 
annual  report. 

The  system  adopted  in  St.  Louis  in  1918  is  in  line  with  the 
principle  on  which  this  recommendation  is  based.  As  was  stated 
in  Chapter  III,  the  parts  of  the  St.  Louis  Annual  Report  which 
deal  with  subjects  in  which  the  public  is  presumed  to  be  interest- 
ed are  published  as  advance  prints  and  given  a  wide  circulation. 
At  the  end  of  the  year  the  material  which  has  been  published 
from  time  to  time  in  these  advance  prints  is  brought  together 
and  bound  with  certain  formal  reports  and  issued  in  limited 
numbers  as  a  single  volume. 

The  practice  in  Cleveland  which  was  mentioned  in  Chapter  III. 
is  also  in  line  with  the  principles  stated.  There  the  annual  report 
is  issued  in  limited  quantities  for  the  sake  of  record  and  the 
citizen  leaders  are  reached  through  the  publication  of  pamphlets 
dealing  with  specific  subjects. 

IV.  A  HOUSE  ORGAN  PUBLICATION. 

In  order  to  reach  the  general  public  effectively  the  "house 
organ"  type  of  school  bulletin  or  newspaper  should  be  published. 


104  SCHOOL  REPORTS  IN  AMERICAN   CITIES 

This  paper  should  go  into  the  homes  of  all  parents  and  citizens 
generally  for  the  purpose  of  creating  good-will  and  appreciation 
of  the  work  of  the  school  and  to  bring  about  a  better  understand- 
ing of  what  the  schools  are  seeking  to  accomplish. 

V.     WHERE  THE  ANNUAL  REPORT  TO  THE 
PUBLIC  IS  REQUIRED  BY  LAW. 

In  the  states  in  which  an  annual  report  to  the  public  is  re- 
quired by  law,  and  where  the  statute  requires  that  it  shall  deal 
with  the  condition  and  needs  of  the  schools,  an  application  of 
the  principles  stated  would  mean  the  omission  of  directories 
of  school  officials,  buildings,  teachers,  students  and  alumni ; 
courses  of  study;  rules  and  regulations  of  the  school  board; 
copied  proceedings  of  the  school  board;  itemized  statements  of 
expenditures  (except  where  specifically  required  by  law)  ;  grad- 
uation programs  and  lists  of  graduates;  records  of  prizes  and 
awards. 

It  would  mean  also  two  other  things.  In  the  first  place,  it 
would  necessitate  the  adoption  of  a  specific  purpose  for  the 
annual  report.  This  purpose  would  be  more  specific  than  to 
give  record  of  the  stewardship  of  the  board  of  education  or  a 
description  of  the  condition  of  the  school  system.  It  might  be 
a  description  of  these  things  but  it  would  be  a  description  of 
them  with  a  definite  purpose  in  view.  This  would  make  it 
possible  for  even  an  annual  report  to  have  point ;  to  present 
subject-matter  as  related  to  a  definitely  recommended  line  of 
action. 

In  the  second  place,  it  would  mean  that  the  various  super- 
visors' and  principals'  reports  would  be  omitted  in  the  forms  in 
which  they  now  appear  in  most  school  reports.  If  supervisors 
and  principals  are  to  contribute,  and  it  is  certainly  believed  that 
they  should  in  the  largest  possible  way,  their  contribution  should 
take  the  form  of  cooperative  work  on  a  definite  program,  and 
instead  of  their  contribution  being  addressed  to  the  superintend- 
ent, it  would  be  addressed  to  the  general  public  and  written 
with  its  influence  on  the  general  public  clearly  in  mind. 


PRINCIPLES  AND  PRACTICE:  105 

VI.  A  DEFINITE  PROGRAM  OP  COOPERATION 

WITH  NEWSPAPERS 

A  definite  policy  of  furnishing  the  newspapers  of  the  city 
with  the  kind  of  information  about  the  schools  which  constitutes 
news  to  which  the  public  is  entitled  should  be  adopted.  The 
proper  use  of  newspapers  as  a  means  of  reporting  school  facts 
to  the  public  is  perhaps  the  most  effective  means  that  school 
authorities  are  able  to  use.  The  ratings  of  school  publications 
on  page  59  and  the  quotations  at  the  close  of  Chapter  III  show 
that  many  city  superintendents  clearly  recognize  this  fact.  Since 
newspapers  strive  to  adapt  their  style  to  the  capacities  and  read- 
ing habits  of  the  general  public,  and  since  in  most  American 
cities  some  newspaper  goes  in  practically  every  home,  they  afford 
a  means  of  reaching  a  wider  range  of  people  than  any  other 
publicity  medium.  Moreover,  newspapers,  generally  recognize 
the  news  value  of  school  stories.  The  real  need,  then,  is  for  a 
definite  systematic  plan  for  furnishing  the  newspapers  with  the 
facts  out  of  which  news  stories  about  the  schools  may  be  made. 

VII.    A  TRAINED  PERSONNEL  FOR  SCHOOL 
REPORTING 

There  should  be  definite  provision  for  the  proper  personnel 
in  every  city  school  system  to  do  the  work  which  is  necessary 
in  any  adequate  system  of  school  reporting.  In  the  larger  cities 
there  should  be  a  publicity  or  publications  expert  whose  duty 
should  be  to  cooperate  with  the  newspapers  of  the  city  in  the 
preparation  of  the  kind  of  news  and  feature  articles  which  they 
will  publish  and  to  prepare  the  various  school  publications  design- 
ed for  the  public  in  such  a  way  that  they  will  be  read  and  under- 
stood. 

In  all  too  many  cases  this  potential  news  does  not  contribute 
to  public  interest  in  and  support  of  education.  This  is  because 
school  superintendents,  principals  and  other  school  officials  are 
busy  with  routine  matters,  do  not  have  the  newspaper  point  of 
view  and  have  acquired  in  their  various  scientific  studies  a  some- 
what highly  technical,  if  not  ponderous,  style  of  writing  which 
makes  it  very  difficult,  if  not  impossible,  for  them  to  put  school 
reports  into  such  form  that  they  will  be  read  by  the  general 
public. 


APPENDIX  A. 

EXTRACTS  FROM  STATS  LAWS  BEARING  ON  WRITTEN  OR  PRINTED 
CITY  SCHOOL  REPORTS 

ALABAMA 

(Applies   to   City   Boards   of   Education*) 

"Section  22.  The  city  board  of  education  shall  cause  to  be  prepared 
and  published  annually,  not  later  than  the  month  of  October,  in  suf- 
ficient quantities  for  distribution  among  the  interested  citizens  of 
the  community,  an  annual  report  showing  the  condition,  current  ac- 
complishments, and  needs  for  the  improvement  of  the  schools;  also 
a  statement  of  the  business  transactions  of  the  board,  and  the  amount 
expended  and  for  what  purpose.  Such  statement  must  show  the  total 
amount  of  school  funds  received  by  the  city  and  the  sources  from 
which  derived.  The  amount  expended  for  teachers'  salaries  in  each 
school  and  the  amount  paid  out  of  the  school  funds  for  any  other  pur- 
pose than  teachers'  salaries  must  be  shown  and  shall  include  the  name 
of  the  person  to  whom  paid,  the  amount  of  each  of  such  items  and 
the  purposes  for  which  said  amounts  were  expended." 

Alabama  School  Code,  Oct.  1,  1919. 

COLORADO 

"125.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  boards  of  directors  of  all  school 
districts  in  school  districts  of  the  first  and  second  class  in  the  several 
counties  of  this  state  to  publish  semi-annually,  within  twenty  days  after 
the  close  of  business  -Jun'e  30th  and  December  31st  of  each  year,  a 
complete  report  of  the  financial  conditions  of  said  school  district,  show- 
ing all  receipts  and  disbursements  from  each  and  every  fund,  so  item- 
ized as  to  give  the  general  public  definite  information  as  to  the  financial 
condition  of  such  district;  such  publication  shall  be -made,  once  in  a 
newspaper  of  general  circulation  printed  and  published  within  said 
district;  provided  that  if  there  be  no  newspaper  published  within  said 
district,  then  such  publication  shall  be  made  once  in  a  newspaper  having 
a  general  circulation  within  said  district.  S.  L.  '11,  p.  582." 
Colorado  School  Laws,  Jan.  1,  1914,  p.  72. 

Paragraph  126  requires  all  districts  other  than  first  and  second  class 
to  publish  a  similar  report  at  the  close  of  each  school  year. 
Colorado  School  Laws,  Jan.   1,  1914,  p.  73. 

*  Incorporated  municipalities  having  2,000  or  more  inhabitants  by  the 
last  Federal  Census. 

(106) 


APPENDIX  A.         »  107 

CONNECTICUT 

The  superintendent  "shall,  one  week  at  least  before  the  annual  town 
meeting,  submit  to  the  board  or  to  the  committee,  as  the  case  may  be, 
a  full  written  report  of  his  proceedings,  and  of  the  condition  of  the 
several  schools  during  the  year  preceding,  with  plans  and  suggestions 
for  their  improvement." 

Conn.    1916   41    (125.) 

DELAWARE 

"2326-73.  Section  127.  The  Board  of  Education,  subject  to  the  pro- 
visions of  this  Chapter,  the  rules  and  regulations,  prescribed  courses 
of  study,  and  the  policies  of  the  State  Board  of  Education,  shall  pre- 
scribe, on  the  written  recommendation  of  the  Superintendent  of 
Schools,  courses  of  Study  for  the  schools  under  its  jurisdiction,  and  a 
printed  copy  of  these  courses  of  study  shall  be  supplied  to  every 
teacher  and  to  ever}7  interested  citizen  of  the  district." 
Del.  School  Code,  1919,  pp.  55-56 

"2326-81.  Section  135.  The  Board  of  Education  shall  cause  to  be 
prepared  and  published  annually  in  the  month  of  November,  in  suf- 
ficient quantities  for  distribution  among  the  citizens  of  the  district, 
an  annual  report  addressed  to  the  people  of  the  district,  covering  the 
condition,  current  accomplishments,  and  nee,ds  for  the  improvement 
•of  the  Schools,  also  a  statement  of  the  business  and  financial  trans- 
actions of  the  Board  " 

Del.  School  Code,  1919,  p.  59 

"2326-101.  Section  155.  The  Superintendent  of  Schools  shall  pre- 
pare, or  cause  to  be  prepared,  and  submit  to  the  Board  of  Education 
for  adoption,  all  reports  required  by  the  State  Board  of  Education; 
and  he  shall  prepare,  or  cause  to  be  prepared,  and  submit  for  the  ap- 
proval of  the  Board  of  Education  the  annual  report  addressed  to 
the  people  of  the  respective  special  school  district  provided  for  in 
section  135  of  this  chapter." 

Del.  School  Code,  1919,  p.  64 

IDAHO 

Annual   financial   report   to   be   posted   in   three   conspicuous 
places. 
Provided : — 

"The  report  of  any  expenditures  shall  contain  the  specific  items, 
amounts,  the  names  to  whom  such  expenditures  wTere  made." 

"That  in  Independent  Districts  the  aforesaid  financial  report  shall 
be  published  in  one  issue  of  a  newspaper  nearest  the  school  house  of 
said  district." 

Idaho  46  1917   (61) 


108  APPENDIX  A. 

ILLINOIS 

"The  board  of  directors  shall  make,  at  the  annual  election  of  di- 
rectors, to  the  voters  there  present,  a  detailed  report  of  receipts  and 
expenditures,  and  transmit  a  copy  of  the  same  within  5  days  to  the 
treasurer." 

Illinois    '16,    35    (114-1) 
Annual  Report  in  Cities  of  over  100,000  population. 

"The  board  shall  prepare  and  publish  an  annual  report  which  shall 
include  in  detail  all  receipts  and  expenditures,  specifying  the  source 
of  such  receipts  and  the  objects  of  such  expenditures,  and  shall  trans- 
mit the  same  to  the  mayor  and  the  city  council." 

School  Laws  of  Illinois,  1917,  Circular  123,  p.  10 
"The  said  board  shall  keep  a  faithful  record  of  all  its  proceedings 
in  well  bound  books.  Such  records  and  all  by-laws,  rules  and  regula- 
tions, or  parts  thereof,  may  be  proven  by  a  copy  thereof  certified  to 
be  such  by  the  secretary  of  said  board,  or  when  the  same  are  printed 
in  book  or  pamphlet  form  which  purports  to  be  published  by  authority 
of  said  board  of  education,  the  same  need  not  be  otherwise  published, 
and  said  book  or  pamphlet  shall  be  received  as  evidence  without 
further  proof  of  said  records,  by-laws,  rules,  or  regulations  ...  in 
all  courts  and  places  where  judicial  proceedings  are  had." 

School  Laws  of  Illinois,  1917,  Circular  123,  p.  10« 
"Par.  139.  •  The  specifications  of  the  powers  herein  granted  are  not 
to  be  construed  as  exclusive,  but  the  board  "of  education  shall  exercise 
all  the  powers  that  may  be  requisite  or  proper  for  the  maintenance  and 
the  fullest  development  of  an  efficient  school  system,  not  inconsistent 
with  these  (those)  general  provisions  of  the  school  law  of  the  state 
which  apply  to  all  school  districts." 

School  Laws  of  Illinois,  1917,  Circular  123,  p.  10- 

IOWA 

"The  board  shall  present  at  each  regular  meeting  of  the  electors  a 
full  statement  of  the  receipts  had  and  expenditures  made  since  the 
preceding  meeting,  with  such  other  information  as  may  be  considered 
important." 

Iowa    1919    42    (2780> 

"It  shall  publish  .  .  .  two  weeks  before  the  annual  school  elec- 
tion, by  one  insertion  in  one  or  more  newspapers  ...  a  detailed 
and  specific  statement  of  the  receipts  and  disbursements  .  .  .  And 
.  .  .  at  the  same  time  publish  in  detail  an  estimate  of  the  several 
amounts  which,  in  the  judgment  of  such  board,  are  necessary  to  main- 
tain the  schools  in  such  district  for  the  next  succeeding  year." 

Iowa   1919  42   (2781) 


APPENDIX  A.  109 

KANSAS 

Cities  of  the  First  Class 

"Par.  144.  ANNUAL  REPORT.  The  board  of  education  at  the 
close  of  each  school  year,  or  as  soon  thereafter  as  practicable,  shall 
make  an  annual  report  of  the  progress,  prosperity,  and  condition, 
financial  as  well  as  educational,  of  all  the  schools  under  their  charge; 
and  said  report,  or  such  portion  of  it  as  the  board  of  education  shall 
consider  of  advantage  to  the  public,  shall  be  printed  either  in  a  public 
newspaper  or  in  pamphlet  form."  Laws  1876,  Ch.  122,  Art.  10,  Sec. 
20.) 

Paragraph  191  contains  the  same  provisions  for  second  class  cities. 
Kansas  School  Laws,  1915-17,  pp.  58  and  71. 

KENTUCKY 

"Par.  154  (Par.  4477  Ky.  St.)  President  and  Secretary  of  Board-Re- 
port by.  The  said  trustees*  shall  elect  one  of  their  number  president,  who 
shall  preside  at  their  meetings,  and  perform  such  other  duties  as  may 
.by  required  of  him,  and  they  may  elect  a  secretary  and  prescribe  his 
duties.  The  president  and  secretary,  or  either  of  them,  shall  make  such 
reports  to  the  county  superintendent  as  are  required  of  common  school 
trustees,  and  shall  publish  annually  such  information  as  will  show  the 
financial  condition  of  the  graded  common  school  district,  and  such 
other  facts  as  they  may  deem  beneficial  to  the  cause  of  education  in 
their  respective  districts." 

1916  Kentucky  School  Laws,  p.  70 

MAINE 

'  At  the  annual  town  meeting,  the  Superintendent  shall  make  a  written 
report  of  the  conditions  of  the  schools  for  the  past  year,  with  a  state- 
ment of  the  conditions  of  school  buildings,  the  proficiency  made  by 
the  pupils,  and  the  success  attending  the  modes  of  instruction  and 
government  thereof." 

Maine  1917.  31.  (1918.  Sec.  59.   II-c) 

MASSACHUSETTS 

Report  of  the  School  Committee  to  be  sent  to  the  Commissioner  of 
Education. 

"Section  6.  (As  amended  by  section  5  of  chapter  368,  Acts  of  1912) 
They  shall  annually  make  a  detailed  report  of  the  condition  of  the 
several  public  schools,  which  shall  contain  any  statements  which  the 
committee  consider  necessary  or  proper.  They  shall  cause  said  report 
to  be  printed,  for  the  use  of  the  inhabitants,  in  octavo  pamphlet  form, 
of  the  size  of  the  annual  reports  of  the  board  of  education,  and  trans- 
mit two  copies  thereof  to  the  commissioner  of  education,  on  or  before 
*Cities  of  the  first,  second,  third  or  fourth  class. 


110  APPENDIX  A. 

the  last  day  of  April,  and  shall  deposit  one  copy  in  the  office  of  the 
city  or  town   clerk." 

Massachusetts  School  Laws,  Revised  to  1914,  p.  38 

MICHIGAN 

"To  print  and  publish  immediately  after  each  meeting  in  such  man- 
ner as  the  board  shall  decide  all  proceedings  of  the  board  at  such 
meeting." 

Michigan    1917.     156    (340-1).     Applies    to    third    class    cities. 

"All  proceedings  and  official  actions  of  the  board  shall  be  printed 
and  published  immediately  after  such  meeting,  in  such  manner  as  the 
board  shall  decide.  It  shall  cause  to  be  made  at  the  end  of  each  fiscal 
year  and  to  be  published  a  complete  report  of  its  receipts  and  expen- 
ditures and  general  school  statistics." 

Michigan  General  School  Laws  1917,  p.  80,  Sec.  20.  Applies  to  cities 
having  more  than  100,000  and  less  than  250,000  inhabitants. 

MINNESOTA 

"71.  Publication  of  proceedings  of  independent  school  districts 
.  .  .  The  school  board  of  each  independent  school  district  in  "this 
state  shall  cause  to  be  published  once,  in  some  newspaper  published 
in  such  school  district,  or  if  there  be  no  newspaper  published  therein, 
then  in  some  newspaper  published  in  the  county  in  which  such  school 
district  is  located,  the  official  proceedings  of  such  board,  and  such 
publication  shall  be  made  as  soon  as  may  be,  and  not  later  than  thirty 
days  after  the  meeting  at  which  such  proceedings  were  had.  Such 
publication  shall  be  let  annually  by  contract  to  the  lowest  bidder,  at 
the  first  regular  meeting  of  the  said  board  after  the  annual  election  in 
such  district,  provided  that  not  more  than  fifty  cents  per  folio  shall  be 
paid  for  such  publication." 

Minnesota   School   Laws   1919,   p.    22 

121  and  122  contain  the  same  provisions  for  all  school  dis- 
tricts containing  ten  or  more  townships  and  define  "Proceedings" 
as  follows: 

"The  term  proceedings  as  used  in  this  act  shall  include  a  statement  of 
all  propositions,  submitted  by  motion  or  resolutions,  or  otherwise,  to 
such  board,  including  the  number  of  votes  for  and  against  all  reports 
made  to  such  board,  and  its  action  thereon,  and  an  abstract  of  all  claims 
allowed,  giving  the  name  of  the  claimant  and  the  amount  and  general 
purpose  of  the  claim." 

Minnesota  School  Laws,  1919,  p.  40 

NEVADA 

"It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  governing  board  of  every  .  .  .  school 
district  or  high  school  district  in  this  state  between  the  first  Monday 


APPENDIX  A.  Ill 

'of  January  and  the  first  Monday  of  April  of  each  year  to  prepare 
a  budget  of  the  amount  of  money  estimated  to  be  necessary  to  pay  the 
expenses  of  conducting  the  public  business  of  such  .  .  .  school 
district  ...  for  the  current  year.  Such  budget  shall  be  pre- 
pared in  such  detail  as  to  the  aggregate  sums  and  the  items  thereof  as 
shall  be  prescribed  by  the  Nevada  Tax  Commission.  The  budget 
.  .  .  shall  in  any  event  show  the  following  detail:  ..  .  ."  It  shall 
be  filed  with  the  city  clerk  or  with  the  auditor  or  recorder  of  the 
county  in  which  the  district  is  situated." 

"A  copy  of  said  budget  shall  be  forthwith  published  for  two  pub- 
lications, one  week  apart,  in  the  official  newspaper  of  the  city,  town 
or  county,  if  there  be  one,  or,  if  there  be  no  official  newspaper,  then 
in  a  newspaper  to  be  designated  by  the  governing  board  of  such  city, 
municipality,  town,  school  district  or  high  school  district." 

"Sec.  10.  It  shall  be  unlawful  for  any  governing  board  or  any  mem- 
ber thereof  or  any  officer  ...  to  authorize,  allow  or  contract  for 
any  expenditure  unless  the  money  for  the  payment  thereof  has  been 
specially  set  aside  for  such  payment  by  the  budget." 

Penalty — Removal  from  office. 

Nevada  88-90.     Sec.    9-10. 

NEW  JERSEY 

"65.  Such  board  of  education  shall,  as  soon  as  practicable  after  the 
close  of  each  school  year  cause  to  be  printed  and  published  a  report  of 
the  condition  of  the  public  schools  under  its  charge,  of  all  the  property 
under  its  control,  and  an  itemized  account  of  the  expenditures  of  the 
board  and  of  the  finances  of  the  district." 

New  Jersey  School  Laws  1918,  p.  32 

NEW  MEXICO 

"The  board  of  education,  at  the  close  of  each  school  year,  or  as  soon 
thereafter  as  practicable,  shall  make  an  annual  report  of  the  progress, 
prosperity  and  condition,  financial  as  well  as  educational,  of  all  the 
schools  under  their  charge;  and  said  report,  or  such  portion  of  it  as 
the  board  of  education  shall  consider  of  advantage  to  the  public,  shall 
be  printed,  either  in  a  public  newspaper  or  in  pamphlet  form,  and  a 
copy  furnished  the  county  and  the  superintendents." 

New  Mexico  1915.  28   (4892— Sec.  86) 

OHIO 

"Such  boards  may  require  superintendents  and  teachers  to  report 
matters  the  boards  deem  important  .  .  .  and  to  make  such  sug- 
gestions and  recommendations  as  they  may  deem  advisable  relative 
to  methods  of  instruction,  school  management,  or  other  matters  of 
educational  interest.  The  board  of  education  of  each  city  district 
shall  prepare  and  publish  annually  a  report  of  the  condition  and  ad- 


112  APPENDIX  A. 

ministration   of   the   schools   under   its    charge,    and    include   therein   a 
complete  exhibit  of  the  financial  affairs  of  the  district." 

Ohio  School  Laws  1915.  291  (7785) 

OKLAHOMA 

"The  board  of  education,  on  or  before  June  30th,  each  year,  shall 
make  an  annual  report  to  the  County  Superintendent  of  Public  In- 
struction of  the  progress,  prosperity  and  condition,  financial  as  well  as 
educational,  of  all  the  school  matters  under  their  charge,  and  said 
report  shall  be  printed  either  in  a  newspaper  or  pamphlet  form." 

Oklahoma  1919.  29   (138) 

OREGON 

Duties  of  the  board  of  education  in  cities  of  the  first  class. 
"To  make  an  annual  printed  report  to  the  taxpayers  of  the  district." 

Oregon  School  Laws,  1919,  p.  98 

"348.  Budget  shall  be  submitted  to  district.*  The  district  school 
board  shall  call  a  meeting  during  the  first  week  of  December  to  act 
upon  this  budget  and  shall  give  notice  of  this  meeting  by  publication 
in  a  daily  paper  having  not  less  than  20,000  circulation  and  published 
in  the  city  or  town  in  which  such  district  is  located.  This  notice  shall 
also  include  a  copy  of  the  proposed  budget.  Any  legal  elector  of  said 
district  may  attend  such  meeting  and  shall  be  accorded  a  hearing  on 
any  item  of  such  budget  .  .  ." 

Oregon   School  Laws,    1919,   p.    106 

RHODE  ISLAND 

"The  school  committee  shall  also  prepare  and  submit  annually,  at 
the  annual  town  meeting,  a  report  to  the  town,  setting  forth  their 
doings,  the  state  and  condition  of  the  schools  and  plans  for  their 
improvement,  which  report,  unless  printed,  shall  be  read  in  open  town 
meeting." 

Rhode   Island   1910.     23    (Sec.   10,  Law  1903) 

The  superintendent  "shall  make  a  report  to  the  school  committee 
annually  and  at  such  other  times  as  it  may  direct." 

R.  I.  1918  p.  6  (Ch.  1667). 

SOUTH  DAKOTA 

"The  clerk  of  the  board  of  education  at  the  close  of  each  school  year 
shall  make  an  annual  report  of  the  condition,  financial  as  well  as 
educational,  of  all  the  schools  of  the  corporation,  a  copy  of  which  shall 
be  sent  to  the  county  superintendent.  Said  report,  or  such  portion  of 
it  as  the  board  of  education  shall  consider  advantageous  to  the  public 
shall  be  printed  in  a  public  newspaper  or  in  pamphlet  form." 

South  Dakota  1918.    89  (188) 

*Districts  with  20,000  children. 


APPENDIX  A.  113 

\ 
SOUTH  DAKOTA 

"The  board  of  education  is  hereby  required  to  publish  in  that  news- 
paper nearest  to  the  geographical  center  of  such  school  district,  such 
paper  to  be  selected  by  the  district  board,  a  statement  of  the  receipts 
and  expenditures  of  such  district  within  twenty  days  after  the  end  of 
each  fiscal  year,  which  said  statement  shall  include  the  amount  of 
money  received,  amount  paid  for  teachers,  repairs  and  incidentals,  the 
amount  on  hand  and  in  what'  bank  deposited.  Such  statement  shall 
be  published  annually  in  two  consecutive  issues  of  such  newspaper. 

South   Dakota  90    (189) 
UTAH 

"4678.  (1910)  Duties  and  compensation  of  the  clerk.  It  shall  be 
the  duty  of  the  clerk  to  attend  all  meetings  of  the  board;  to  keep  an 
accurate  journal  of  its  proceedings,  and  to  have  the  care  and  custody 
of  the  seal,  records  and  papers  not  otherwise  provided  for;  to  counter- 
sign all  warrants  drawn  upon  the  treasurer  by  order  of  said  board;  to 
keep  an  accurate  account  of  all  moneys  paid  to  the  treasurer  on  ac- 
count of  said  board  and  from  what  source  received,  and  all  money 
paid  on  orders  drawn  on  the  treasurer  by  order  of  said  board;  and  to 
prepare  and  submit  to  .the  board  an  annual  statement  under  oath,  of 
the  receipts  and  disbursements  during  the  year  ending  June  30,  which 
statement  the  board  shall  cause  to  be  published  in  a  newspaper  having 
general  circulation  in  said  city  showing: 

1.  The  amount  on  hand  at  the  date  of  last  report; 

2.  The  amount  of  the  sinking  fund  and  how  invested; 

3.  The  moneys  paid  out  and  for  what  paid; 

4.  The  balance  of  school  moneys  on  hand; 

5.  The   number,    date   and   amount   of   every   bond   issued    and   re- 
deemed under  the  authority  herein  given,  and  the  amount  received 
and  paid  therefor." 

State  of  Utah,  School  Laws,   1919,  p.  946 
WISCONSIN 

"Itemized  report  of  receipts,  etc.  to  be  published  by  town  and  union 
high  school  boards,  Section  496c— 2.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  school 
board  of  every  town  high  school,  and  union  free  high  school  in  the 
state,  to  publish  or  cause  to  be  published,  or  posted  in  five  prominent 
places,  during  the  week  preceding  the  annual  meeting,  a  summarized 
financial  report  of  receipts  and  disbursements  for  the  preceding  year 
of  such  district,  and  the  recommendations  for  the  following  year,  in  a 
newspaper  published  within  the  town,  city  or  village  where  such  school 
is  located;  said  report  not  to  exceed  five  folios,  and  in  case  there  is 
no  newspaper  published  within  such  town,  city  or  village,  then  such 
report  shall  be  published  in  any  newspaper  having  a  general  circula- 
tion in  such  town,  city  or  village,  and  published  within  the  county 
where  such  school  is  located."  (1913  c.  109) 

Wisconsin  School  Laws,  1911-13,  p.  12 


APPENDIX  B. 

Description  of  the  Questionnaire  Used  to  Secure  Information  from 
City  Superintendents  of  Schools  Relative  to  Official  School  Pub- 
lications. 

The  following  letter  was  sent  with  the  inquiry  blank: 

"You  will  doubtless  be  interested  in  knowing  accurately  just  what  the 
present  practice  is  with  respect  to  reporting  school  facts  to  the  public 
in  American  cities. 

In  order  to  get  the  facts  the  Department  of  Educational  Administra- 
tion of  Teachers  College,  Columbia  University,  is  sending  the  en- 
closed inquiry  form  to  all  superintendents  of  schools  in  cities  in  the 
United  States  of  8,000  population  and  over.  As  soon  as  the  returns 
are  received  they  will  be  tabulated  and  a  summary  will  be  sent  to 
you. 

The  types  of  publications  listed  in  the  inquiry  represent  the  ones 
most  frequently  used  at  this  time.  In  order  to  make  clear  just  what 
is  meant  by  each  of  the  types  mentioned,  a  brief  description  is  given 
on  the  other  side  of  this  letter. 

The  problem  of  securing  the  right  means  of  reaching  all  the  people 
is  just  now  a  very  vital  one  for  city  superintendents,  and  it  is  on  this 
account  that  I  am  asking  you  to  cooperate  by  furnishing  the  facts  from 
your  city." 

The  letter  was  accompanied  by  the  following  description  of 
the  kinds  of  school  reports  named  in  the  blank : 

TYPES  OF  SCHOOL  PUBLICATIONS 

A.  ANNUAL  REPORT.     The  typical   school  publication  of  Amer- 
ican cities.     As  a  rule,  intended  to  be  a  comparative  account  of  the 
work  and  progress  of  the  public  schools. 

B.  BIENNIAL  REPORT.     Same  as  A  except  published  every  two 
years. 

C.  TRIENNIAL  REPORT.     Same  as  A  except  published  every  three 
years. 

D.  MONOGRAPHS   TO   TAKE  THE   PLACE   OF   A,    B,   or   C. 
Such  as  those  published  by  Superintendent   Spaulding  at   Minne- 
apolis. 

E.  SCHOOL.  MANUAL,   such  as  the   "Handbook  of  the   Board   of 
Education    of    Philadelphia"    and    the    "Manual    of    the    Board    of 
Education    of    Detroit."      Contain    complete    school,    teacher,    and 
school   board    directories,    rules    and    regulations    of    the    board    of 

(114 


APPENDIX  B.  115 

education,    salary    schedules,    school    calendar,    and    certain    enroll- 
ment and  financial  statistics. 

F.  SCHOOL  DIRECTORY  ,   such   as   those   published   in   many   of 
our   cities.     Primarily  a   well   arranged   and   indexed   directory   of 
school  board  officials  and  teachers. 

G.  COURSE  OF  STUDY,  Publication  of  a  number  of  courses  or  a 
single  course  in  pamphlet  form. 

H.  NEWS  BULLETIN,  such  as  "School  Topics"  in  Cleveland,  "The 
School  Review"  in  Denver,  "The  School  Magazine"  in  Buffalo, 
"The  Official  Bulletin  of  the  City  of  St.  Paul,"  "The  Detroit 
Educational  Bulletin,"  "Our  Public  Schools"  in  Oakland,  and 
"Omaha  Public  Schools." 

I.  RULES  AND  REGULATIONS  OF  SCHOOL  BOARD.  Sep- 
arate booklet  containing  city  charter  or  general  state  law  pro- 
visions relative  to  schools  and  rules  and  regulations  of  the  board. 

J.  CAMPAIGN  BULLETIN,  such  as  "A  Square  Deal  for  the  Lit- 
tle Children  of  Buffalo"  and  "Our  Public  Schools"  in  Des  Moines, 
Iowa. 

K.  REPORTS  IN  NEWSPAPERS,  such  as  certain  financial  reports 
which  must,  according  to  law,  be  published  in  newspapers. 

L.     POSTERS.     Street  car  posters,  signs,  window  cards,  etc. 

M.  NEWSPAPER  DISPLAY  ADVERTISEMENTS,  such  as  those 
used  in  campaigns  for  school  bond  issues,  and  to  advertise  com- 
mencement exercises,  new  courses,  etc. 

The  questionnaire  form  was  printed  on  a  stamped  return  folder. 
A  sample  of  this  questionnaire  appears  below. 


116 


APPENDIX  B. 


OFFICIAL  CITY    SCHOOL    PUBLICATIONS. 


+  * 

..* 

Number  of 
issues  in 
last  5  yrs. 

Date  of 
last  issue 

Number  of 
copies  in 
last  issue 

Meant 
for  what 
classes* 

COST 

of  last 
issue 

of  all  Issues 
last  12  mos. 

A     Annual  Report       

B     Biennial    Report 

C".    Triennial    Report    

D     Monographs  to  take  the 
place  of  A,   B  or  C   .  . 

E.    School  Manual      



F.    School  Directory    

G.    Course  of  Study   

H     News  Bulletin 

t 

I.      Rules  and   Regulations  of 
School  Board       





J.    Campaign  Bulletin   

K.    Reports  in  Newspapers. 
(Paid   for  Space)    

],     Posters    



M.    Newspaper  Display  Ad- 

N                                           .  .     •     • 





o  

Coiumn   Number 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

S 

* 'Check  in  column  1  the  reports  which  are  required  by  law. 

***Indicate  in  column  2  by  means  of  numbers  the  relative  rank  of  A,  B,   C,  D,  H,  J  and  K   (putting  best 
as   1,    next  best  as  2,   etc.)    as  effective  means   for  reaching   the  general  public. 

'Indicate  by  code  in  column  6  the  classes  of  people  intended  to  be  reached  by  each   type  of  report: 

1.  School    Board.  4.    General  Public. 

2.  Supervisors  and  Principals.  5.    Possible    Continuation    School    Students. 

3.  Teachers.  G.    Citizen    Leaders. 

7.    Superintendents   of   Schools   and   School    Officials   in    other    cities. 


Do  the  teachers  of  your  city  publish  a  bulletin,  pamphlet  or  magazine  of  their  own? 

When    was    the   publication    started  ?    < 

Remarks:    

Reported  by    


APPENDIX  C. 


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APPENDIX  C. 


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APPENDIX  D. 

CHARTS  AND  GRAPHS  FOUND  IN  103  ANNUAL,  BIENNIAL  AND 
TRIENNIAL  SCHOOL  REPORTS.  (68  OF  THE  103  REPORTS  CONTAIN- 
ED NO  CHARTS  OR  GRAPHS.) 

ORGANIZATION   CHARTS 

No.    of  times 
appearing 

Organization    of    school    system    4 

Organization,    Americanization    work    1 

Organization,  department  of  school  hygiene 1 

Organization,  elementary  school  system  1 

Organization,    secretary's   department    1 

POPULATION  STUDIES 

Comparison   of  rate  of  growth   of   local   city  with  rate   of 

growth  of  other  cities  3 

Increase  of  population  of  city  for  45  year  period 1 

Percentage  of  aliens   in  local  city  compared  with  percent- 
age in  30  other  cities  of  the  same  state 1 

Residence  of  pre-tubercular  children 1 

Residence  of  evening  school  pupils 1 

Residence  of  pupils  to  whom  labor  certificates  were  granted  1 

RELATING  TO  BUILDING  PROGRAMS 

Budget,  proportionate  part  used  for  buildings   and  repairs 

and  new  buildings  for  6  year  period 1 

Building  accommodations,  relation  to  enrollment  for  20  year 

.  period    1 

Classrooms,  number  now  in  use  which  were  erected  in  each 

five  year  period  from  1875  to  1919 1 

Cost,  in  cents  per  cubic  foot  of  five  school  buildings  built 

in  1911-12,  1912-13,  1915-16  and  1917-18  respectively  __     1 
Distance  of  each  school  from  its  domestic  science  center  —     1 

Distance  of  each  school  from  its  manual  training  center 1 

Distribution  of  pupils  in  city  in  relation  to  proposed  junior 

high    school    1 

Domestic  science  kitchens,  comparative  ratings  of 1 

Fire    hazard    elimination    1 

High  school  enrollment,  teaching  staff  and  building  provi- 
sions, comparison  of  percentile  increase  in,  for  8  year 

period    , 1 

127 


128  APPENDIX  D. 

Light,    adequacy    of   in    elementary    schools    5 

Location  of  existing  schools,  proposed  new  schools  or  ad- 
ditions and  the  geographical  center  of  the  district 1 

Manual  training  shops,  comparative  rating  of   _  1 

New  residential  developments,  natural  limitations  controling  1 
Playgrounds,    comparative   area   of    __. 
Playgrounds,    comparison   of   square   feet   per    capita   in   all 

schools 1 

School  enrollment,  distribution  of  in  relation  to  newly  pur- 
chased  sites    1 

.School  lawns,  rating  of 1 

Sizes  and  shapes  of  various  class  rooms  _  1 

Smoke  elimination  record 1 

Window  space,  relation  of  to  floor  space  in  all  schools 1 

SCHOOL  COSTS,  BUDGET  and  FINANCE 

Comparison  of  per  capita  wealth  of  local  city  with  that  of  19 

other  cities  of  the  same  class  1 

Comparison  of  tax  rate  per  $1,000  in  local  city  and  19  other 

cities  of  the  same  rate 2 

Cost  per  pupil: 

a.  by  classes  of  schools 10 

b.  by  elementary   schools   1 

c.  for  different  sizes  of  schools 1 

d.  over  a  10  year  period 2 

e.  in    local    city    compared   with    cost    per    pupil    in    51 
others    1 

Cost  of  different  varieties  of  coal  and  unit  heating  costs  for 

12  year  period 1 

Decrease  in  cost  of  textbooks  for  18  year  period 1 

Direct  taxation  vs.  bond  issue,  relative  cost 1 

Expenditures   for  all  city  governmental   cost   purposes   com- 
pared writh  expenditures  for  schools   2 

Expenditures    for   schools    in    local   city    compared    with    ex- 
penditures in  other  cities 2 

Expenditures,    percentile    distribution    of,    by    functions    for 

period    of    years 4 

Expenditures,   percentile  distribution   of,   by   functions 3 

Expenditures,  relative  amounts  spent  for  general  operations, 
acquisition    of    lands,     equipment,    pensions     and    debt 

charges    1 

How   the    school    dollar   is    spent    4 

Income,  sources  of  school- 3 

Indebtedness  for  school  purposes,  amount  of,  by  years  1918 
to    1935    .  1 


APPENDIX  D.  129 

Per  capita  bonded  indebtedness  of  local  city  and  ten  others, 
comparison  of  1 

Proportion  of  amount  raised  by  local  taxation  devoted  to 
schools  in  local  and  61  other  cities  1 

Relation  between  expenditures  for  schools  and  police  pro- 
tection in  local  and  60  other  cities 1 

Summary  of  receipts  and  disbursements  with  per  pupil  per 
hour  costs  for  the  several  educational  activities 1 

SALARIES 

Salaries  of  janitors,  ward  principals  and  elementary  teachers, 

comparison   of  range  in 1 

Salaries  of  teachers,  principals,  janitors  and  engineers,  com- 
parative for  6  year  period  __ 1 

Salaries  of  teachers  compared  with  salaries  of  other  workers 

in  local   city  1 

Salaries  paid  assistant  superintendent  of  schools  in  local  city 

and  25  others 1 

Salaries  paid  business  manager  in  local  city  and  13  others  _     1 
Salaries  paid  to  elementary  school  teachers,  comparison  of 

average  by  years  1910-11  to  1918-19  1 

Salaries  paid  superintendent  of  schools  in  local  city  and  25 

others    1 

Salaries  of  teachers,  principals  and  supervisors,  comparison 

of,   in  local  city  and   9   others   3 

Teachers  salaries,  relation  of  per  cent  of  increase  to  increase 

in  total  school  expenditures   1 

THE  SCHOOL  STAFF 

Comparison   of   percentage   of   special   and   general   subject 

teachers    _ 1 

High  school  teachers,  changes  in,  for  five  year  period 1 

New  teachers,  percentage  of  in  school  system 5 

Professional  training  courses,  percentage  of  teachers  en- 
rolled in,  while  teaching 1 

Professional  training,  percentage  of  teachers  who  have  had, 

within  three  year  period 1 

Teaching   staff,    changes    in    1 

Teachers,  percentage  who  are  from  the  local  city 1 

Training  of  teachers,  increase  in,  for  three  year  period 1 

Ward  school   principals,  duties   of   1 

Where  elementary  and  high  school  teachers  received  their 

education    .  2 


130  APPENDIX  D. 

PUPIL  ACCOUNTING 

Ages  by  grades 1 

Attendance,   regularity   of   1 

Attendance  and  tardiness,  percentage  of 1 

Attendance   and    enrollment,    increase    of,    for    a   period    of 
years    9 

Attendance  at  two  elementary  schools,   numerical  and  per- 
centile  increase   1913-1918   1 

Distribution   of   pupils    by    grades    in    public    and    parochial 
schools    3 

Evening  school   attendance,   growth   of   :     1 

Enrollment  and  census,  increase  in,  for  a  period  of  years 2 

High  school  enrollment,  increase  of,  compared  with  increase 

in  number  of  high  school  graduates  for  ten  year  period     1 
High  school  graduates,  per  cent  of,  entering  college  for  ten 

year  period 1 

Influence  of  economic  and  labor  conditions  on  number  of 

children  of  school  age  employed  in  industries 1 

Junior  high  school,  enrollment  and  increase  of  attendance  _     1 
Junior    high    school,    comparative    enrollment    of    boys    and 

girls    in    2 

High  school,  relative  number  of  boys  and  girls  attending  for 

a  period  of  years 1 

Nationalities,  percentile  distribution  of  evening  schools  stu- 
dents  by    1 

Number  of  pupils  of  each  age,  from  4  to  20  attending  school     1 

Pupils,  number  per  teacher 2 

Number  of  children  not  in  school,  comparison  of,  by  years 

for  eight  year  period 

Over-age-ness  by  grades 1 

Over-age-ness  by  schools   1 

Over-age-ness  by  schools  and  grades '--     3 

Over-age-ness   of   pupils   coming  into   school   district   from 

other   cities   

Over  age,  normal  and  under  age  pupils 1 

Under  age,  normal  and  over  age  pupils  making  normal  and 

slow  progress  by  grades 

Over  age  pupils,  percentage  of,  by  years  of  over-age-ness  _     1 
Per  cent  of  population  attending  school  in  local  city  and  11 

other  cities  of  same  state 

Per  cent  of  total  enrollment  in  grades  VII,  VIII  and  IX 

enrolled  in  junior  high  school 1 

Per  cent  of  total  high  school  enrollment  in  different  years 
of  the  high  school  compared  with  country  at  large  __     1 


APPENDIX  D.  131 

Per  cent  of  total  grade  enrollment  in  each  grade  of  the  local 
school  compared  with  percentages  for  the  country  at 
large  1 

Physical  defects,  comparison  of  children  who  have,  with  per- 
centage of  those  who  do  not 1 

Ratio  of  high  school  attendance  to  total  school  attendance 

in  local  city  and  other   cities   3 

Relation  between   school   census,   total  population   and  per 

cent  of  total  population  attending  school 1 

Relation  between  increase  in  city  population,  school  census 

and  school  attendance  for  17  year  period 1 

Repeating  grade,   per   cent  of  pupils   1 

Retardation  by  grades,  comparison  of  in  white  and  colored 

schools    1 

Retardation,  per  cent  of,  in  high  school  for  five  year  period     1 

Retardation,  percentage  of 1 

Retardation,    percentage    of,    by    elementary    schools    for    5 

year    period    1 

Per  cent  of  pupils  not  tardy,  by  months 1 

Vacation  high  school,  enrollment  in,  for  four  year  period  _  1 
Withdrawals,  non-promotions  and  failures  8 

MEASUREMENT  OF  ACHIEVEMENT  OF  PUPILS 
BY  MEANS  OF  STANDARD  TESTS. 

Achievement  of  pupils  in  algebra   4 

Achievement  of  pupils  in  arithmetic  (Courtis)  Tests  __  6 
Achievement  of  pupils  in  arithmetic  (reasoning)  Monroe 

Scale    2 

Achievement    of    pupils    in    arithmetic     (Stone    Reasoning 

Test)    4 

Achievement  of  pupils  in  composition   (Hillegas  Scale  and 

Nassau    County    Supplement)    10 

Achievement  of  pupils  in  English  (Harvard  Newton  Scale)  1 
Achievement  of  pupils  in  handwriting  (Thorndike  Scale)  _  8 
Achievement  of  pupils  in  handwriting  (Starch  Standards)  1 
Achievement  of  pupils  in  grammar  (Grammatical  Scale  A 

by   Starch)    1 

Achievement  of  pupils  in  reasoning  in  history  (Van  Wage- 

nen  History  Scale   A)    2 

Achievement  of  local  high  school  pupils  in  addition,  reason- 
ing in  arithmetic,  composition  and  grammar  with  that  of 

pupils  entering  high  school  from  other  schools 1 

Silent  reading,  comparison  of  achievement  of  pupils  with 
scores  made  in  other  cities  (Kansas  Silent  Reading 
Test)  6 


132  APPENDIX  D. 

Vocabulary  Test,  achievement  of  first,  second  and  third 
grade  pupils  in  (Jones  Scale)  1 

INTELLIGENCE  TESTS 

Improvement  of  children  of  superior  intelligence  compared 
with  improvement  of  normal  groups  in  history  and  ad- 
dition    2 

Intelligence  test,    scores   made   by   900   eighth   grade  pupils 

Intelligence  test,  scores  made  by  690  nine  A  grade  pupils 
(Otis  Group  Intelligence  Test)  1 

Mental  age,  high  first  grade  (Binet-Stanford)   1 

Mental  age  in  years  and  months  of  397  low  first  grade 
pupils  (Binet-Stanford)  1 

Mental  age  in  years  and  months  of  receiving  classes  (Binet- 
Stanford)  7 

Mental  and  chronological  ages  of  55  Kindergarten  pupils, 
comparison  of  (Binet-Stanford)  1 

Mental  and  chronological  ages  of  102  pupils,  below  mental 
age  of  6  (Binet-Stanford)  1 

SCHOOL  GRADES 

Grades,  distribution  of  pupils' 10 

High""  school  grades,  distribution  of,  by  classes 4 

High  school  grades,  distribution  of,  compared  with  "Co- 
lumbia Scale"  2 

Grades,  Distribution  of,  in  various  Harvard  College  Classes     1 

MISCELLANEOUS  SUBJECTS 

Comparison  of  local  schools  in   fifteen  items  with   average 

for    these    items    in    60    other*  cities    1 

New  school  activities,  added  for  five  year  period 1, 

Normal   surface   of   frequency    1 

School  savings,  increase  in,  for  12  year  period 1 

Time,  apportionment  of,  to  subjects  by  grades 2 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 
School  Reports  Examined 

1.  Annual   Report  of   the    Board   of   Education   and   of   the   Superin- 
tendent of  Schools  of  the  City  of  Albany  for  year  ending  July  31, 
1919. 

2.  Annual  Report,  School  District,  City  of  Allentown,   Pa.,  for  year 
July   1918  to  1919. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  133 

3.  Annual   Report  of  the   Altoona   Public   Schools — For   year   ending 
June  30,   1918. 

4.  Annual    Reports    of   the    Board    of    Education — Public    Schools    of 
Ann  Arbor— For  School  Year  1918-1919. 

5.  Board   of   Education — Annual    Report — Auburn,    New    York,    1917- 
1918. 

6.  Annual   Report  of  the    Board   of   Education — 1918 — Aurora    Public 
Schools. 

7.  Eighty-eighth    Annual    Report    of    the    Board    of    School    Commis- 
sioners   to    the    Mayor    and    City    Council    of    Baltimore    for    the 
scholastic  year  ending  June  30,   1917. 

8.  Annual  Report  of  the  Public  Schools  of  the  City  of  Bath  for  the 
year  ending  July  1,  1919. 

9.  Annual  Report — Board  of  Education,  Bayonne,  N.  J.,  1919. 

10.  Annual  Report  of  the  Schools  of  the   City   of   Berkeley,   Cal.,   for 
the  Fiscal  Year  ending  June  30,  1917. 

11.  Annual   Report   of   the    Birmingham    Public   Schools,   for    the   year 
ending  June  30,  1914. 

12.  Thirty-sixth  Annual  Report  of  the  Bowling  Green  Public  Schools 
for  the  School  Year  ending  June  30,   1918. 

13.  Report  of  the  Board  of  Education,  Bristol,  Conn.    For  the  School 
Year  ending  July  14,  1917. 

14.  Report   of   the    School    Committee    of    Brookline,    Mass.      For    the 
year  ending  Dec.  31,  1918. 

15.  City    of    Cambridge,    Mass.,    Annual    Report    of    the    School    Com- 
mittee  and   the   Superintendent   of   Schools,    1918. 

16.  Annual  Reports,   Course  of  Study  and   By-laws   and   Rules  of  the 
Board   of    School    Commissioners   of   the    City    of    Charlotte,    1918- 
1919. 

17.  Annual    Report   of   the   School   Department   of   the    City    of    Chel- 
sea, Mass.    1917-1918. 

18.  Cincinnati  Public  Schools,  Eighty-eighth  Annual  Report  for  School 
Year  ending  August  31,   1917. 

19.  Cleveland    Public    Schools,    Eighty-second    Annual    Report    of    the 
Board  of  Education,  1918. 

20.  Annual  School  Report  1917 — Concord,  N.   H. 

21.  Annual  Report  of  the  Public  Schools,   Danbury,  Conn.,   1917-1918. 

22.  Anual    Report    of    the    Board    of    Education,    Dayton,    Ohio,    1917- 
1918. 

23.  Sixteenth  Annual  Report  of  School  District  No.  1  in  the  City  and 
County  of  Denver,  Colo.    1918-1919. 

24.  Seventy-fourth  and  Seventy-fifth  Annual  Reports  of  the  Board  of 
Education  of  the  City  of  Detroit,  for  the  Year  Ending  June  30, 
1917  and  1918. 


134  BIBLIOGRAPHY 

25.  School  Department — Dover,  New  Hampshire,  Annual  Report,  1917. 

26.  Triennial  Report  of  the  School  System  of  Dunkirk,   N.  Y.   1913- 
1916. 

27.  Report  of  the  Public  Schools— City  of  Elmira,  N.  Y.    1917-1918. 

28.  Report  of  the  Public  Schools  of  the  City  of  El  Paso,  Texas,  1916- 
1917. 

29.  Report  of  the  School  Committee — City  of  Everett,  Mass.    1918. 

30.  Fargo    Public    Schools,    Fargo,    N.    D.,    Superintendent's    Biennial 
Report,  1917-1918. 

31.  School  Report,  Fitchburg,   Mass.    1918-1919. 

32.  Board  of  Education — Grand   Rapids,   Mich.     1917,   Forty-fifth  An- 
nual Report. 

33.  Report  of  the  Town  School  Committee,   Greenwich,   Conn.    1918- 
1919. 

34.  Annual  Report  of  the  Public  Schools,  Hackensack,  N.  J.    1918. 

35.  Harrisburg  Public  Schools — Year  1918. 

36.  Annual   Report  of  the   Public   Schools   of   the   City   of   Haverhill, 
Mass.  For  year  Ending  Dec.  31,   1919. 

37.  Annual   Report  of   the   Public  Schools,   Holyoke,    Mass.     Vol.   55, 
Year  1918. 

38.  Annual  Report  of  the  Public  Schools  of  the   Independent  School 
District  of  the  City  of  Houston,  Texas,  1918-1919. 

39.  The   Public  Schools  of  Jamestown,   New  York,   Triennial   Report 
for  School  Years  1915-1916;   1916-1917;   1917-1918. 

40.  Annual  Report  of  the  Public  Schools  of  Johnstown,  Pa.,  1918. 

41.  Report  of  the  Board  of  Education  in  the  Union  District  of  the  City 
of  Keene,  N.  H.,  from  March  28,  1918  to  March  28,  1919. 

42.  Report  of  the   Public  Schools   of  La   Crosse,   Wis.,   for   the  year 
1917-1918  and  of  Day  and  Evening  Vocational  Schools. 

43.  The   Lawrence   Public   Schools,    Forty-ninth    Annual   Report    1915- 
1916,  Lawrence,  Kansas. 

44.  Annual  Report  of  the  School  Department,  Lewiston,  Maine  1916- 
17;  1917-1918. 

45.  Annual    Report    of    the    Lexington,    Ky.,    Public    Schools    for    the 
year  ending  June  30,  1919. 

46.  Eighth  Report  of  the  Board  of  Education  of  Louisville,  Ky.,  from 
July  1,   1918  to  June  30,   1919. 

47.  Forty-fourth  Annual  Report  of  the  Public  Schools,  City  of  Macon 
and  Bibb  County,  Ga.    Announcement  1916-1917. 

48.  School  Report,  Maiden,  Mass.  1918. 

49.  Annual  Report  of  the  School  Committee,  Manchester,  N.  H.  1917. 

50.  School  Report,  Meriden,  Conn.  1918-1919. 

51.  Sixty-second   Annual    Report   of   the    Board   of    Education   of   the 
Middletown  City  School  District,  September  1,  1919. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  135 

52.  Annual  Report,   Board  of  Education,    1918-1919,   Millville,   N.   J. 

53.  Fifty-ninth  Report  of  the  Board  of  School  Directors  of  the  City 
of  Milwaukee,  Wis.  1918. 

54.  The    Forty-sixth    Annual    Report    of    the    Moline    Public    Schools, 
Moline,  111.  1919. 

55.  Annual  Report  of  the  Public  Schools,  Mount  Vernon,  N.  Y.    1918. 

56.  Statistical    Report   of   the   Public   Schools,    Nashville,   Tenn.    1915- 
1916. 

57.  Annual  Report,  Board  of  Education,  Borough  of  Naugatuck,  1919. 

58.  Public  Schools,   New  Britain,  Conn.    Annual  Report,   1918-1919. 

59.  School  Report,  Newburyport,  Mass.,  1918. 

60.  Fifty-first  Annual  Report  of  the  Board  of  Education,  New  London, 
Conn.  Oct.,  1919. 

61.  Public  Schools,  Newport,  R.  I.  Vol.  LIX,  1918-1919. 

62.  The   Newton   Public   Schools,   Annual   Report   of  the   School   De- 
partment, Newton,  Mass.,  1919. 

63.  Twenty-fourth   Annual    Report    of    the    School    Department,    1919, 
North   Adams,    Mass. 

64.  Report  Norwalk  City  Schools,  1918-1919. 

65.  Oakland  Public  Schools,  Being  a  Report  of  the  Superintendent  of 
Schools   of   Oakland,    Cal.,   1917-1918. 

66.  Paducah   Public  Schools,   Paducah,    Ky.,   Annual   Report  of   1918- 
1919. 

67.  Paterson  Public  Schools,  Annual  Report  of  the  Board  of  Educa- 
tion 1919  for  Year  ending  June  30. 

68.  School  Report  1918,  Pawtucket,  R.  I. 

69.  99th  Annual  Report  of  Board  of  Public  Education    (Philadelphia, 
Pa.) 

70.  Seventh    Annual    Report    1918,    The    Board    of    Public    Education, 
Pittsburgh,  Pa. 

71.  Annual  Report  of  School  Committee,  City  of  Portland,  Maine,  1917. 

72.  The  Forty-sixth  Annual  Report  of  Public  Schools,  Portland,  Ore., 
for  the  School  Year  ending  June  30,  1919. 

73.  Annual  Report  of  the  Board  of  Education,  Poughkeepsie,   N.  Y.. 
1918. 

74.  Annual  Report  of  School  Committee,  Providence,  R.  I.,  1918-1919. 

75.  Annual  Report  School  District  No.  1,  Pueblo,  Colo.    1916-1917. 

76.  A   Review  of   the   Rockford   Public   Schools,    1915-1916    Issued   by 
Board  of  Education,  Rockford,  111. 

77.  School    Department    of   the    City    of    Sacramento,    Annual    Report, 
1917-1918-1919.     Sacramento,   Cal. 

78.  Board  of  Education,  St.  Joseph,  Mo.,  Report  Years  Ending  June 
30,  1910  and  June  30,  1911. 

79.  St.   Louis,  Mo.,  School   Report,  1918. 


136  BIBLIOGRAPHY 

80.  Twenty-sixth    and    Twenty-seventh    Annual    Reports — Board    of 
Education,  Salt  Lake  City  Public  Schools,  for  School  Years  1916- 
1917. 

81.  School  Report,  Somerville,  Mass.    1918. 

82.  Biennial   Report   of   the   Public   Schools   of   Spokane,   Wash,   for   2 
years  ending  June  30,  1918. 

83.  Sixtieth   Annual    Report,    Springfield    Public    Schools    District    No. 
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84.  Thirty-Ninth  Annual   Report,   Springfield,   Mo.   Public  Schools   for 
Years  1906-1907. 

85.  Springfield  Public  Schools,  Springfield,  Ohio,   1917-1918. 

86.  Report  of  the  School  Committee,  Superintendent  of  Schools,  Sec- 
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87.  Report  of  the  Board  of  Education  of  the  City  of  Trenton,   N.  J. 
Year  ending  August  31,  1918. 

88.  Annual  Report  of  Public  Schools  of  Utica,  N.  Y.    1917. 

89.  Report  of  the  Waltham  Public  Schools,   1918. 

90.  Seventy-third    Annual    School    Report,    1918-1919,    Town    of    War- 
wick,  R.   I. 

91.  Annual   Report  of  the  Board  of   Education  of  the  City  of  Water- 
bury  for  Year  1918. 

92.  Board  of  Education,  East  Independent  District.     Report  of  Super- 
intendent of  Schools,  1916-1917,  Waterloo,  Iowa. 

93.  Report  of  the  School  Committee,  Westfield,   Mass.    Jan.,   1920. 

94.  Annual   Report  of  the  Board  of   Education  of  the  Town  of  West 
Hoboken,  N.  J.  for  Year  ending  June  30,   1917. 

95.  Annual   Report  of   the    School   Committee   of   the   Town    of   Wey- 
mouth,  Mass,    for  the  Year  1919. 

96.  Report    of    the    Public    Schools    of    the    Wilkes-Barre    City    School 
District,  Wilkes-Barre,  Pa.    for  the  Year  1918. 

97.  Public  Schools   Williamsport,   Pa.    Annual   Report   1917-1918. 

98.  School  Report,  Winchester,  Mass.    1939. 

99.  Fifth  Annual  Report  of  the  Public  Schools  of  the  City  of  Winston- 
Salem,  N.  C.    1917-1918. 

100.  Wichita    Public   Schools,    Wichita,    Kansas.    Bulletin    No.    3,    July 
1919,  Statistical  Report  for  1917-1919. 

101.  School  Report  1919,  Woonsocket,  R.  I. 

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103.  York   Public   Schools,    1917-1918. 

LIST  OF  PUBLICATIONS  REFERRED  TO   IN  THE  TEXT. 

1.  Boston,    Reports   of   Annual    Examining   Committees,    1845. 

2.  Bourne,    W.    O.,    History    of   the    Public    School    Society    of    New 
York,  N.    Y.,  1870. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  137 

3.  Brighton,    Massachusetts,    Annual    Reports    of    the    School    Com- 
mittee,  1847-1861. 

4.  Cleveland,   Ohio,   Report  of   Board   of   Education,   1917-18. 

5.  Concord,  N.  H.,  Report  of  the  Visiting  School  Committee,  March 
14,    1827.      Report   of   the   Visiting   School    Committee,    March    12, 
1828. 

6.  Connecticut,  Fourth  Annual  Report  of  the  Board  of  Commissioners 
of  Common  Schools,  May  1842. 

7.  Cubberley,    Ellwood    P.,    Public    Education    in    the    United    States, 
Cambridge,   Mass.,   1919. 

8.  Freese,   Andrew,    Early  History   of  the   Cleveland   Public  Schools, 
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9.  Maine,    State   School    Report   for    1852.     State   School    Report   for 
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10.  Massachusetts,  Laws  of  1838. 

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12.  Massachusetts,  Statutes  of  1846. 

13.  Monroe,   Cyclopedia  of   Education. 

14.  New  Hampshire,  Report  of  the  Commissioner  of  Common  Schools, 
'  1847.    Report  of  the  Commissioner  of  Common  Schools,  1854. 

15.  Philadelphia,    Annual    Reports    of    the    Controllers    of    the    Public 
Schools   1819-1843. 

16.  Providence,  Rhode  Island,  By  laws  of  School  Committee,   1844. 

17.  Providence,    Rhode    Island,    Report    of    Sub-committee    of    School 
Committee. 

18.  Rhode  Island,  State  School  Report,  1845. 

19.  St.  Louis,  Annual  Report  of  the  Board  of  Education  1917-18. 

20.  Shotwell,  John  B.,  A  History  of  the  Schools  of  Cincinnati,   The 
School  Life  Co.,  1902. 

21.  Suzzallo,  The  Rise  of  Local  Supervision  in  Massachusetts,  Bureau 
of  Publications,  Teachers  College,   New  York  1906. 

22.  The  Old  Hartford  Grammar  School,  Republished  from  Barnard's 
American  Journal  of  Education  for  April,  1878. 


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